


The Oasis

by malecstele



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Dark, Eventual Happy Ending, First Meetings, Implied Sexual Content, Kinda, M/M, Mild Language, Monsters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-02-26 12:59:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 29,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13236240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malecstele/pseuds/malecstele
Summary: After a war left Earth a complete wasteland, life has never been the same. People now had to fight for survival, no one is ever safe. Almost like fate, Magnus and Alec meet. Together, they search for a supposed safe haven known as The Oasis. But nothing is ever that simple.





	1. Forest

**Author's Note:**

> Happy new year everyone!!

Magnus walked leisurely through the forest, towing a dead deer behind him. He considered this a lucky catch. He hadn’t see a deer in a long time, much less than one with a singular head. He was so hungry. Food was hard to come by nowadays. Magnus had to do everything in order to not starve. 

The Earth had not been the same since the war. A couple hundred years ago the entire world went at war, using all the nuclear weapons they had. The outcome was catastrophic, millions of people died and the remaining were exposed to radiation. Some people took cover and were never exposed, others formed a tolerance. 

Aside from the casualty side of war, the planet was left as a wasteland. Majority of the world was dead with little vegetation. Many animals were mutated, turning into monsters or had abnormalities. There would be random deadly storms such as acid rain and fog. The weather was not a friend during these times. Magnus had been one of the lucky ones, he had found a dense forest. Beyond the forest was a complete desert that went on for countless miles. Magnus knew that taking refuge in the forest was risky. Any sensible person who spotted the forest would live there. 

If Magnus had been alive before all of this, he would have imagined an apocalypse where people would be kind when coming across another person. That was not the case. People almost always attacked whenever they see another person. They would kill them, and search their bodies for anything useful. 

The worst kind of humans were those known as the Ravagers. They were a united group who were merciless. They plundered and pillaged, killing everyone without hesitation. They would take prisoners and use them for many things, like bait for hunting. Magnus had dealt with many Ravagers in his life. They slaughtered his mother where she stood when he was seventeen. The leader, Valentine Morgenstern taunted Magnus as she fell to the ground, dead. From that day onward, Magnus swore that one day he would get his revenge. 

That was many years ago. Magnus didn’t know exactly how old he was, but he presumed that he was around thirty. His mother had taught him a lot of skills that had enabled him to live this long, he wasn’t going to let her down. 

Magnus was currently taking shelter in a little underground cavern. It was very hidden on the outside, covered by bushes. He had found this place on accident, he was running for a couple who had somehow acquired a gun through their travels. Magnus only had several machetes, so he made the most reasonable decision and ran. While fleeing, he stepped right on top of the bushes that covered the cave and fell right in. 

It had been around two months since then. Magnus knew that he shouldn’t stay here much longer, it wasn’t wise to settle anywhere for too long, but something held him back. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he knew that there had to be some reason for him being so hesitant. 

***

Alec Lightwood plunged his face into the river, gulping down as much water as he could. It had been two days since he had drank anything. He was glad he found it when he did, he knew that he would only get weaker and weaker. Not wanting to drink too much, Alec started rinsing the sand off his face. He had just gotten out of the desert. Who know how long he had been trekking through there. Maybe six months? Usually he would come across a plant that carried the water inside, then he would eat the plant after drinking from it, but lately there hadn’t been any sort of life, plant or human. Alec considered the latter to be a good thing, after all he had yet to meet a decent human being in his life. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, after he got separated from his family, this one lady took him in until she was killed by a person who was passing by. 

When Alec was around fifteen, him and his family were attacked by Ravagers. They had set fire to the place they had set up camp. The fire blocked him from his parents and siblings, he tried to go around but the fire spread quickly. He had searched and searched for his family, even returning to the spot after the fire had died down, hoping that they had waited for him. He didn’t have such luck, they were gone. Feeling hopeless, Alec sat there, waiting to die. He didn’t care anymore; his family was probably dead. If they somehow lived, he was pretty sure that he little brother, Max, had died along the way. He didn’t see what happened, but he heard Max’s screams of agony. 

Julie came across him when he was on his deathbed. As soon as she spotted him, she came to his aid, Alec tried his best to convince her otherwise, but she was stubborn and nursed him back to health. She was like a mother-figure to him, which is why they grew so close. They stayed together for a couple of years before she was shot through the heart by an arrow via a passerby. Alec had been alone ever since. It had been at least ten years since he was separated by his family, he counted the years by how many winters he experienced, however, it was easy to miscalculate when majority of the world was a desert wasteland. 

Alec put down his pack and pulled out several makeshift canteens and filled them with water. As much as Alec wanted to stay in this area for the next couple of weeks, he knew that he was more at risk here than any other place. A place full of natural resources were common areas for Ravagers to hang around. As much as Alec wanted to murder those bastards, he knew that it would be a fight he would never win. Instead, he was trying to find The Oasis. Several months ago, he overheard a family talking about it while he was hiding. They talked about this sanctuary where there was no violence, no killing, and food for everyone. They talked so enthusiastically about it, Alec knew that they truly believed that such a place existed. He was brushing the words aside when one of the men traveling with them talked about the house he owned at The Oasis and that the family was going to love it as much as he did. That was when Alec realized that this man went there already. 

Listening more, he found out that the man was the woman’s brother, therefore making his story more credible. Even in the apocalypse, families didn’t normally kill each other. Feeling bold, Alec revealed himself and asked where to find The Oasis. At first, Alec regretted his decision because the brother pointed a pistol at him, but after Alec begged, he lowered the gun and pulled out his map. He showed Alec it and told him to memorize it. Ever since then, Alec had been following certain constellations to The Oasis.

Standing up, Alec looked around for some place he could take shelter for the day. He needed a good rest, he hadn’t slept for at least a day. After that, he would hunt and gather. Alec knew that he was halfway to The Oasis, within the year he would reach it, and hopefully, he could finally live a day where he didn’t worry that it would be his last. 

Alec found a little burrow under some of the undergrowth. The hole didn’t go underground, but rather brought him to the middle of the growth. He looked around, there was no signs that anyone was here recently. He looked up, no one would be able to see him through the plants.

Alec curled up, falling asleep almost instantly, not noticing that in the distance, there was a storm coming.


	2. The Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm hits and Malec meet

When Magnus saw the clouds coming, his stomach dropped. Rain was coming, he silently prayed that the rain would be normal. Acid rain was a pain in the ass. It would burn through your clothes within one or two minutes and any exposure afterwards would lead to death. Even a dense forest like the one Magnus was in now, wouldn’t give him full coverage from the rain. The water would drip from the leaves and through the caps in the tree line. Over the centuries, plants became accustomed to the extremely acidic water. 

Magnus was never more thankful for his cave than he was in this moment. If the storm was acidic, he would have complete protection. He hurried into his cave and gathered his canteens. These storms could last days, he needed as much water as he could get. Also, it wasn’t wise to drink from any of the rivers until a few days after the storm, since the acid water would fill up the streams.

His footsteps were completely silent as he ran to the river. Taking a quick look around, Magnus crouched. There was no sign of anyone. He knew that he was more at risk of being spotted with an incoming storm, everyone wanted to get resources before it hit. As soon as the last bottle filled, Magnus quickly took in a few sips himself and hurried back. 

He made sure that the entrance was fully covered by the foliage, then went deeper into his current home. He had all of his things neatly organized against the wall. He had a backpack, one canteen and some food, and a couple of weapons side by side. Most of his supplies were in his backpack in case he needed to make a quick run for it. The other stuff was just laid out for convenience, instead of opening his pack to get food, he had some already out. 

The inside of his backpack contained not only food and water but the couple of pieces of clothing he had acquired over the years, medical supplies and several knives. 

After organizing, he went to his food pile and started to eat some of the deer he caught earlier in the day. The bad thing about meat was that it went bad quickly, but Magnus wasn’t going to complain about eating more.

Once finished with his meal, he headed back to the entrance. He looked outside and looked for any sign that gave away what type of storm was coming. Nothing yet. He went back inside. A long time had passed before he heard a loud sound, he bolted to the entrance and peeked through the plants. In the sky, a huge flock of hundreds of birds were flying away from the clouds. There was his sign. Animals always fled. He looked at the dark grey clouds, the storm was close, it wouldn’t be much longer now until he had to take cover. 

Magnus didn’t particularly hate acid storms, sure it sucked when you were caught in one, but it was probably the only time where you could guarantee that you weren’t going to be killed. No one was going to be lurking around, about to find his cave. It was one of the few times where Magnus could actually sleep without waking up constantly. 

Soon, Magnus heard the sound of the rain pouring down. That was his cue for going to bed. He laid down on his makeshift bed which was composed of animal fur and pieces of cloth he had found. Magnus was sure that if the world was normal, he would have never slept in a bed like this, but with the reality he was in, this was one of the most comfortable things Magnus had ever laid on.

***

Alec woke up to the feeling of a bunch of tiny feet walking across him. He shot up, looking down at his body. A bunch of beetles were marching along him. Weird, Alec thought. He looked up in his little covering, rubbing his eyes. As awareness came back to him, he realized that the beetles meant one thing only: acid rain.

Scurrying out from his hiding place, Alec frantically looked around for any sort of shelter. Nothing. He had no choice but to run away from the storm and hope that he came across something along the way. Otherwise…Alec didn’t want to think about that. 

He sprinted as fast as he could. Adrenaline ran through his veins, giving him speed. His heart thumped in his chest, I can’t die, he thought repeatedly to himself. The only problem with running was the fact that it was very hard to look for cover. Alec slowed slightly, he couldn’t see anything obvious, but then again, any obvious hiding place would definitely already have someone in there. 

Soon, Alec couldn’t run anymore, his legs were too tired and felt like they were going to fall off. He had to keep going though. He walked as quick as he could. But he knew that the storm would catch up to him sooner than later, when he looked at the sky he could see the clouds about to cover him. While walking, Alec pulled out some spare clothes from his pack. He covered his head and face with a shirt, leaving only his eyes visible. He wrapped some material over each hand. Now, he was completely covered, buying him a couple of extra minutes. 

Alec tried to keep the despair away when he saw the first drop of rain fall. He started to run again, his legs were protesting but he had no other choice. The storm was faster though. Soon he felt it hit him, the acid burning at his clothes. He had about a minute until it could start touching his skin. It was dark now, making it harder to see anything. There was nothing around him but thickets, which wouldn’t help him, the water would still find him. 

Suddenly, he felt a stab of pain on his shoulder blade. He yelled out. The water burned into his skin, inviting more droplets to join it. Alec felt various other parts of his body be hit. His arm, his chest, his scalp. Alec collapsed, curling up into a ball, hoping that somehow, this position would protect him. 

The rain burned into his side. He screamed. He knew that he was going to die. Although no one could see it, since he was covering his face with his arms, he started to cry.

***

Magnus woke up when he heard the first yell. It sounded like a man. Magnus felt sorry for him, he must have got caught in the rain. Magnus had never been burned by the acid rain before but he had witnessed what happened to people when the water touched their skin. His mother told him that even though it wasn’t humane to leave someone to die like that, there was nothing they could do. Magnus couldn’t think of a worse way to die. 

As the screams grew closer, Magnus sat up, this guy must be trying to run from it. Magnus silently applauded his courage. That was when he heard a thump outside his cave, followed by more yelling. Magnus felt sick, there was a man who was probably innocent, dying right outside his hideout. There was nothing he could do for him.

However, when a strangled scream pierced his ears, everything Magnus had ever learned was thrown out of his head. He acted quickly, covering himself with a deerskin from his bed before running out. The stranger was curled in a ball just outside the cave. He could make it. Magnus spirited to him and scooped him up with little effort. Magnus was strong but he knew that adrenaline had to have played some role. The man was still alive, but not by much. Magnus sprinted back into the cave. The deerskin fell off him as he dove into the cavern. He felt a slight burn on his hand but that was it. He placed the man on the ground. 

The man was shaking, convulsing in a way. Magnus removed the material from his head and face. The face had barely any burns, his scalp could be worse. Good so far, Magnus reassured himself. Magnus crouched down and slowly removed his shirt. Magnus was thankful that he wasn’t squeamish, or else the sight would had made him sick. The man was covered in blood and blisters. Magnus then took off his pants, his legs were bad but definitely a lot better than his upper body. Magnus studied the man’s underwear, there didn’t appear to be any holes in the fabric. Sighing with relief, Magnus grabbed his backpack, pulling out the medical supplies. 

He had several bandages and different plants that he could make concoctions with. Magnus had always loved mixing different ingredients together; his mother had taught him many different formulas for different ailments. He was thankful that she told him about the rain burns. 

Quickly squishing and mixing several plants into a poultice, he coated the bandages with them. While he let the concoction settle, he pulled out a spare cloth and poured water on it. He needed to wash off the blood to see what he was working with. 

As he rubbed the cloth against the man’s skin, he screamed out. Magnus quickly looked at his face, but he was still unconscious. “I’m sorry, but this has to be done,” he told him, even though he knew that he couldn’t hear him. Magnus tried to make it as painless as possible but it was nearly impossible. As the blood was washed away, Magnus got to see what the burns looked like. They were disgusting, Magnus tried not to stare at them. He covered the worst wounds with the bandages, all of which were located on the man’s chest. And then created more poultice to rub on the rest of the burns. 

Once finished, Magnus sat back in disbelief. Did he really just risk his own life to save a stranger? He looked at him, despite Magnus’ best efforts, he looked terrible. Magnus didn’t know if he would make it. He looked at the entrance, which was now slightly uncovered, and hoped that the rain would stop soon. If this man survived the night, Magnus would need more plants to stop infection. Magnus wasn’t worried about him waking up and attacking, there was no way this man could do that. 

Magnus leaned over him and studied his face, he was quite handsome. His dark hair complemented his skin tone, his face was smooth. Magnus noticed a scar on his eyebrow, and for some odd reason Magnus wondered how he got it. In a way, this was ridiculous, everyone had scars, it was impossible not to, but yet, Magnus found himself completely fascinated by this man. 

“Don’t die on me,” Magnus whispered. Then added, “And if you don’t, please don’t try to kill me.”


	3. Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec wakes up and talks with Magnus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave comments and kudos!

Magnus woke up, memories of what took place a couple hours ago. He looked towards where he left the man, wondering if it was all a dream. A slight feeling of disappointment came over him when he saw that it was all real. He felt rather conflicted. On one hand, it felt good knowing that he saved someone from a horrible death, but yet, on the other hand he felt completely stupid. This man could be a lower-ranked Ravager, or just a terrible person in general. Although it was highly unlikely for this guy to attack due to his burns, Magnus still put himself at risk. He risked his life by throwing himself into the acid rain and is currently risking his life by giving shelter to a stranger. Magnus got out of his bed and walked towards the entrance. He looked through his plant covering and saw that it was still raining, but not as heavily as it was before. It was a sign that the storm was passing. 

Magnus looked at the man, he was still unconscious. Magnus knelt by him and put his fingers to the side of his blistered neck, feeling for a pulse. It wasn’t as strong as it should be but it wasn’t enough to worry about. Putting his hand on his forehead, Magnus noticed that he was a bit hot. Magnus went over to his pack and gave the man some crushed berries. The man needed food and berries worked as antibiotics which is also what the man needed. Magnus then put some thyme leaves on the most serious burns and tied them down with more strips of cloth. 

When Magnus touched at the burn on his stomach the man shifted, trying to get away from the pain. He groaned a little as Magnus put the bandage on him. Magnus hushed him softly. “You’re okay,” he whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Magnus jumped slightly when the man’s eyes opened. He had the most beautiful hazel eyes Magnus had ever seen. They stared at each other for a bit before the man fell back asleep. 

***

The first thing Alec heard was a soft voice. Alec couldn’t make out exactly what it was saying at first, but the voice was so warm and soothing, Alec didn’t care. Alec wondered if he was dead. Then the words became clear, “I’m not going to hurt you.” Alec opened his eyes and saw a man. He was probably the most attractive person Alec had ever seen. The man stared at Alec and Alec stared back. Alec wanted to say something, but for some reason couldn’t speak. Whether or not the man felt the same, he wasn’t sure. However, before he could do anything, he fell asleep. 

When Alec woke up the second time, he saw the man on the other side of the cavern, eating something. Alec’s stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten in such a long time. He also felt a bit thirsty. Alec knew that since he wasn’t dying of thirst the man must have given him something to drink while he was out. The man hadn’t noticed him yet. 

Alec wondered if he could trust this guy, how did he know he wasn’t a Ravager who was taking him as a prisoner. He then realized how foolish this thought was, a Ravager would not risk his own life just to get a prisoner.

The man turned and looked at him. “You’re finally awake!”

“How long have I been out?” Alec asked cautiously. He still didn’t know this man’s motives for saving him yet. Alec tried to sit up but he felt a stabbing pain in his abdomen. He looked down and saw that majority of his torso was covered with bandages. That was when Alec realized that he was only in his underwear. 

“You got burned pretty badly. You’re lucky that I know a lot of about plants and their healing properties. What’s your name?”

“Uh, Alexander but people call me Alec.” Alec knew he messed up when he saw the man flinch slightly. He just made it seem like he was in a bigger group, and he knew that the man automatically thought of the Ravagers, or worse, the Circle. The Circle was a group of the highest-ranking Ravagers, they were the most violent of the whole group and majority of the loot the Ravagers collected went to them. Circle members often had a circle branded onto the side of their neck, so the man must know that he wasn’t a member.

“People? So you’re in a bigger group?”

“No,” Alec shook his head. “I’ve been alone for a very long time. My family called me Alec, but…”

He looked at him with understanding, “Ravagers?” he asked softly.

Alec nodded, “We got separated and I don’t know if they made it out alive.”

“My mom was killed by them, I’m sorry that that happened to you.”

Alec sighed, pushing the pain away, “It’s fine it was a long time ago.”

The man didn’t look convinced but he didn’t say anything. “I’m Magnus.”

“Thank you for saving your life.”

“I almost didn’t but I heard you screaming…I knew I couldn’t let you die like that.”

“Maybe one day I can return the favor,” Alec smiled slightly. He didn’t know why but there was something about Magnus that made Alec trust him. He felt safe around him.

“It’s still raining,” Magnus said. “But I have enough supplies for the both of us.”

“You don’t have to waste your stuff on me.”

“Alexander, I just saved your life, I’m not going to let you die from starvation.”

Alec didn’t really like it when people called him by his full name, but there was something about the way Magnus said it seemed right. “If you don’t mind, can I have some food.”

Magnus nodded and brought him some sort of meat. Alec’s mouth watered as he took a huge bite. He recognized the taste of deer. He practically inhaled it. He wanted to ask for more, but didn’t want to annoy Magnus. He heard a chuckle come from the man. Magnus gave him some more food. “Do you normally stay here or are you passing through, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I was passing through. I’m heading towards The Oasis.”

“What?”

“I overheard this one man talking about it to his family, he found this safe haven where people live in peace.”

Magnus snorted, “A safe haven? That’s highly unlikely. This world is full of murderers, I find it hard to believe that people automatically change their ways once the reach this place.”

Alec had thought about this too, but in the end he decided that it was worth the shot, “It’s all I have.”

Magnus stilled, and looked at him with sorrow. 

“If it’s not real then the joke is on me, but at least I will die knowing that I tried all I could to make my life better,” Alec added.

“Where is this place?”

“I don’t really know; the map was of stars and showed which ones to follow.”

“What direction?” 

Alec pointed east. “That’s where I was heading before this.”

“That’s towards the Ravager territory. There’s no way you can make it out of there alive.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” Alec said a little defensively. He knew that it wasn’t Magnus’ fault for being skeptical, but Alec needed this. This was his only chance.

“You’re hoping to find your family there,” Magnus pieced together.

Alec nodded, looking down. 

Magnus knelt in front of him, “If I were in your shoes I would do the same thing.” 

Alec smiled at him, “Thank you,” he said, not knowing what he was even thanking him for. 

Magnus handed him a canteen and said, “I don’t know how long we’ll be stuck together, it might be awhile.”

“It’s okay, you seem like good company.”


	4. Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec's condition gets worse and Magnus realizes that he's getting too attached

Magnus did not know how much time had passed since Alec had woken up. They had some small talk here and there but nothing that interesting. Alec ate and drank a lot. Normally, Magnus would be stingy when it came to food but for some reason, he didn’t mind sharing with Alec. He found it quite adorable that Alec would stare at the food but be too wary to say anything. Magnus wasn’t sure if this was because Alec didn’t want to burden Magnus or because he didn’t trust Magnus. Magnus hoped that it was the former. After all, he saved the guy’s life! The least he could do was to not be scared of him. 

Soon it came time for Magnus to give Alec a check-up. He felt his forehead and felt his stomach drop, Alec was getting warmer. He fed Alec more plants that had antibiotic properties and gave him a fur pelt and insisted that he wrapped himself up in it. Hopefully Alec could sweat it out. As for his burns, Magnus was quite pleased with himself. The wounds were still quite repulsive looking, with all the charred skin and blisters, but there was improvement. The area wasn’t quite as sensitive and wasn’t as red. He still put more poultice on. Magnus would look at Alec every once in awhile while he was tending to him. Alec would give him a grateful smile and a nod. 

Once done with his body, he had Alec have his back to him. His back was burnt but wasn’t nearly as bad as his front. The wounds on his scalp were hard to see due to Alec’s shaggy hair. With Alec’s permission, he used his knife to him a haircut. It made it easier to see the burn and Alec looked a lot better with it cut. Not that he looked awful before, Magnus told himself. He just looks even more gorgeous. 

When night fell again, the rain was a tiny sprinkle. Magnus wanted to sleep but there was the survival side of him that told him that he should not go to sleep with a stranger in his cave. He didn’t want to think of Alec as a stranger, but he was closer to that than a friend. Friend, the thought of that brought a wave of loneliness over Magnus. Magnus could not remember how long ago he talked to a person. It did suck, once in a while, having to constantly be alone. But this was a double-edged sword, either you’re alone or you get betrayed by the person you let in. Bitterness swept over him as he thought of Camille.

About a few years ago Magnus found himself caught in a Ravager trap. He wasn’t watching where he was going and stepped in a noose, which wrapped around his ankle and hung him upside down from a tree. No matter what Magnus tried, he couldn’t get down. He gave up and waited for the Ravagers when this woman came and cut him down. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the area. Magnus fell for her fast. He had never been with anyone before her. He didn’t know if it was the fact that she was his first love that blinded him or because he was just naïve. They had spent several months together, then one night, Magnus woke up to find Camille and all of his belongings gone, leaving him with only the clothes on his back. That wasn’t even the worst part, she had made a huge fire where he was, announcing to the entire desert where he was hiding. Magnus tried to get out of there, but was greeted by two men. Weaponless, Magnus resorted to punching and kicking. To this day he considered it a miracle that he made it out of there alive. Camille had broken his heart and tried to kill him, he knew to never trust a stranger again. 

At least…that was until he met Alec. Alec did not seem like Camille, he was a gentle soul, Magnus couldn’t see him doing something like that. Magnus shook his head, he couldn’t be fantasizing about something like love and romance. Once the rain cleared up and Alec was well enough to be on his own, Magnus would leave him. 

 

Magnus opened his eyes and sat up, he did not remember falling asleep. He looked over at Alec who was curled up into a ball, shivering. That’s not good, Magnus thought to himself. He made his way over to Alec and gently woke him up. 

“Alexander, do you have the chills?”

Alec nodded, “I’m so c-cold.”

Magnus took a pelt from his bed and wrapped it around Alec. Magnus felt Alec’s fingertips, they were ice cold. His forehead was hot. Magnus gave him more medicine and put on a brave face, he was running out of supplies. It had stopped raining but he needed to wait until it was dry again. Magnus then looked at his wounds trying to see which one was infected, there was no doubt that infection was causing the fever. He couldn’t find anything, Magnus was lost, none of the burns showed any signs.

“Has any place been particularly sensitive or hurts more than the rest?”

“I don’t know…when you woke me up I felt this ache in my right hip.” 

Magnus looked at his hip, there was nothing there. That was when Magnus noticed a small, burnt hole in the waistband of his underwear. “Shit!” Magnus exclaimed. 

“What?” Alec asked, rather alarmed.

“I didn’t see a burn! The waistband was covering it!”

Alec turned so his hip was facing Magnus, “Can you fix it?” 

“I can try.”

The burn wasn’t even that big, no bigger that the size of pad of his pinkie finger. Magnus knew as soon as he uncovered it, that this was infected. He drained the wound then put one of his concoctions on it, hoping that it would get better. 

Alec’s appetite had gone down and Magnus had to remind him that he needed his strength. Magnus gave him a bunch of water to keep him hydrated. Even after constant care, Alec didn’t show any sign of improvement. His shivering had gotten worse and Magnus had literally torn his entire bed up, leaving only a few pieces of small cloth and gave the rest to Alec.

Eventually, Magnus pulled Alec to him and held him close, trying to get him warm. By then Alec was extremely drowsy and buried his face into Magnus’ chest, trying to sleep. If he were in different circumstances, Magnus would have enjoyed this moment. Alec looked so adorable. But now, Magnus was too worried about keeping him alive. 

Magnus started to gently run his fingers through Alec’s hair, soothing him. Half-asleep, Alec got closer to him. 

When Magnus realized that he had been watching Alec for at least an hour, he knew that he was getting too attached. As soon as he is able to fend for himself, I will leave him, Magnus thought. After all, he learned from Camille that in this world there was no such thing as love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be posting the sequel to my fic Stranded Christmas soon, probably within a week. Thank you to everyone who has read my fics, I really appreciate it


	5. Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec get attacked by Ravagers then have a moment

Even though Magnus’ eyes were burning from exhaustion, he couldn’t sleep. He was too worried about Alec who, even in his arms, was shivering. Magnus rubbed his arms through the pelts, trying to warm him. Magnus was starting to feel hopeless, Alec was going to die and the thought of that really upset him. He knew why he felt this way, he had been alone for such a long time, there was a big part of him that didn’t want to go back to that. 

That was another reason why he couldn’t sleep, two parts of him were fighting each other, one side wanted Alec to stay, the other, wanted to ditch him. Magnus groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Please help me, Mom,” he whispered. “I don’t know what to do…you would, if you were here. You always knew what to do.” 

Magnus didn’t normally talk to her, he hadn’t done it since Camille, back when he felt absolutely crushed. Leaning his head against the wall, Magnus squeezed his eyes shut. Why did it have to be so hard? He was damned if he wanted company and damned if he was alone. A tear rolled down his cheek, falling onto one of the pelts. Magnus looked at Alec who was sound asleep and smiled softly as he wiped his tears away. Alec looked peaceful despite his feverish symptoms. That was when something inside Magnus clicked. He didn’t want to be alone ever again and if Alec was willing, maybe they could work together and become friends. 

***

Alec woke up feeling a bit better. He still felt cold but his hands no longer felt like icicles. His face was pressed against something that felt warm, he looked up and saw Magnus sleeping. That was when Alec realized that he had been sleeping against his chest. Heat rushed to his cheeks. He started to pull away but Magnus arms prevented him to move too much. His stirring caused Magnus to wake up. “Morning,” Magnus rasped. “At least I think it’s morning.”

Alec glanced towards the entrance of the cave, seeing the plant covering soak in the sunlight, “Yeah, it’s morning.” Alec then pulled himself out of Magnus’ embrace and said, “Uh thank you for uh, keeping me warm. It was…nice.”

When Magnus smiled Alec could feel his heart beat faster. Magnus was so handsome and he had the best smile. Alec had never been with anyone before, after all it was very hard to trust people but he had always known that he was attracted to men and not women. He would see people walk by them when he was hiding and he found himself checking-out some of the men he saw. He was young and it confused him since he had only ever heard about men and women being together so he asked his mom about it. She told him that that meant he was gay and there was no need to be confused since there was nothing wrong with being gay. 

Magnus opened his mouth to say something when they heard the sound of twig snapping from.

“Where do you think he is?”

“I don’t know but every time I see him he heads off to this area.”

“He can’t be that much farther. Do you think he could have escaped before the storm hit?”

“I highly doubt it, I saw him bringing some filling some canteens a couple hours before the storm hit. He was obviously getting prepared.”

Alec stiffened, “Ravagers,” he whispered to Magnus.

Magnus nodded at him and slowly got up. He made his way over to the wall where he kept a lot of his supplies and picked up a large machete and a couple of smaller make-shift knives. Magnus crept towards the entrance and as he passed Alec he handed him one of the knives. “Just in case,” he mouthed.

Alec pulled the pelts off of him, freeing himself in case he needed to flee. Dread fill his body as he watched Magnus crouch at the entrance. If Magnus was killed Alec worried that he would die too. Sure, he was good at fighting but with his fever he knew that he probably wouldn’t last long afterwards. 

They waited, nothing happened. Alec felt the tension leave him gradually. Maybe the Ravagers had moved on. If Alec went off of anything they said, they didn’t know where Magnus was exactly hiding but knew the area. 

Magnus glanced back at Alec and gave him a small, reassuring smile. As he looked at him, a pair of hands parted the plant door. 

“Magnus!” he screamed.

Magnus turned just as a he was tackled by a huge guy. Another man rushed in and charged at Alec. Despite feeling weak, Alec leapt to the side, away from the guy coming at him. Alec stood up quickly took in what he was dealing with. The man had a sharpened rock that could easily puncture skin. Alec had to be careful. The man ran at him, Alec quickly dodged. The only thing he liked about Ravagers was the fact that they were so used to winning, they often got cocky and therefore, clumsy. Alec quickly drove the knife into the Ravager’s back pulling it upwards towards the heart. He then yanked it out and stabbed him repeatedly until he dropped to the ground. 

Alec heard a yell and saw that Magnus being pinned down by the remaining Ravager, but what stood out to Alec was the blood gushing from the man’s neck and the blood covering Magnus’ lips. Magnus had bit him. Alec threw his bloody knife at the man, it hitting him right in the arm. Surprised, the man loosened his grip on Magnus who was now able to reach farther out and grab his machete he dropped. He drove it into the man’s skull. When he collapsed, Alec felt the fatigue wash over him. He leant against the wall, breathing heavily. “Magnus, you okay?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Never better.”

Magnus stood up and made his way over to Alec, he put his hand on his shoulder, “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, he didn’t get me, it’s just the fever.”

“Go back to your bed and I’ll get rid of the bodies. I’ll check the infection when I get back, okay?”

Alec nodded as he laid down in the fur, “Stay safe,” he said.

Magnus smiled, “I will.”

***

Magnus dumped the bodies far away from the cave. It was near the thicker part of the forest where the wildlife liked to hang around. He made sure that there was no trail or any indicator that pointed to Magnus or his cave. As he walked back, he gathered some plants to replenish his supply. He then went to the river, he dipped the tip of his pinky finger into the water, testing it for acid. When he didn’t feel anything besides coldness, he rinsed the blood off his face and hands. He then rinsed his mouth, trying to get the metallic taste of blood to go away. 

He then headed back to the cave. As soon as Alec was able to, they needed to leave. If two Ravagers knew about him, then it was likely that more knew about him. He saw Alec sitting up, still covered in blood. 

Magnus wetted a cloth and handed it to Alec to clean himself up. When he was done, he handed to cloth back to him. “It’s done?” Alec asked.

Magnus nodded, noticing that Alec missed a spot, right next to the scar on his eyebrow. Magnus leaned forward and wiped it. When he pulled his hand away he noticed that Alec was staring into his eyes, his lips parted.

“You missed a spot,” Magnus whispered. 

“Thank you,” Alec said. Magnus could have sworn that Alec glanced at his lips. 

“Anytime.”

They stared at each other for a few more moments until Magnus broke eye contact. He may want Alec as an ally but he didn’t want a romantic partner. He didn’t need another heartbreak. Magnus checked the infected burn and saw that it looked a lot better. He felt Alec’s forehead which was definitely not as hot. Magnus felt joy, Alec was going to be fine.


	6. Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec think about their growing feelings for each other and decide that it's time to leave

Once night had fallen, Magnus was rather quick to fall asleep. Alec watched as his breathing slowed and all the stress on his face faded away. His face smoothed and he looked younger, more peaceful. Alec thought about their moment earlier. Magnus was so close to him, and all Alec wanted to do was the close the gap, but he knew he couldn’t. He liked Magnus and didn’t want to risk losing his alliance with him because of some unrequited feelings. 

There was something about Magnus that allured Alec to him. He was so confident with his abilities and so sure of everything he did. He was so smart and nice despite the fact that Alec was a complete stranger to him. Most people would have left Alec to die, but Magnus didn’t, he risked his own life to save Alec. Alec smiled as he watched him. He hoped that Magnus wouldn’t leave him as soon as he was good to go, sure, Alec would be fine fending for himself, but he liked company, and more importantly, he liked Magnus. 

Alec stood up to stretch his legs. He wanted to do something for him, something to thank him. Magnus had given him his food, water and some clothes, Alec had to repay him in some way. He slowly went up to Magnus, not wanting to disturb him and draped one of the pelts over him. He must have been cold, considering the fact that the only thing keeping him warm was the clothes on his back. 

Alec then went to the exit of their cave and peeked his head out, making sure there was no one there. When he was sure that the coast was clear, he walked out breathing in the chilled night air. He watched as several giant birds hopped from tree to tree. He always called them jingles because their song sounded like a jingling bell. His mom told him that these birds didn’t exist before the war, but he never knew how she knew that considering she was born into the same world he was. Alec glanced back at the cave and quietly walked in and grabbed Magnus’ bow and arrow. It didn’t look like it was used often. Alec then walked outside and aimed, getting used to the resistance of the string. He then waited for a jingle to hop by. When it came into his eyesight, he let go, hitting the bird right in the chest. The birds all around started calling out in their bell-like calls, warning each other of the danger. 

Alec wasn’t going to be greedy and kill anymore, these birds were rather large and meat went off fast. He brought it into the cave and started to take its feathers off. As he cleaned up his kill, he glanced back at Magnus, who seemed to be crying in his sleep. Abandoning everything, he crouched next to him. He put his hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. 

“What?” Magnus yawned. 

“You were, uh, crying in your sleep.”

“Oh,” Magnus said quietly as he wiped his eyes. “It was just a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Magnus said harshly.

Alec flinched, knowing that he had stepped too far. Magnus wasn’t his friend, just an ally. He was foolish to think otherwise. “I’m sorry.”

Magnus shook his head, “No, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I appreciate you looking out for me.”

Alec nodded, not knowing what to say. 

Magnus looked over his shoulder, spotting the bird. “Did you go hunting?”

“Yeah, I figured that it was the least I could do with everything you’ve done for me.”

Magnus smiled at him, “Thank you, Alexander. You didn’t have to do that.”

“But I wanted to,” Alec said quietly.

It took everything in Alec’s body to not kiss him. He wanted to but he knew he shouldn’t. Magnus wasn’t his friend and he never once showed any interest in him. So, Alec just gave him a smile before heading back to his kill. 

***

Magnus laid back, silently scolding himself. How could he be so stupid? After the hell Camille put him through, how could be possibly even fantasize over the idea of being with him? As soon as he gave into his growing feelings, he knew he would be doomed. Alec would break his heart and probably kill him to put him out of his misery. 

He rolled over to his side so Alec couldn’t see him. He couldn’t let himself become vulnerable around him. He had to keep his guard up, he couldn’t let Alec in. He repeated that thought like a mantra until he fell asleep. 

When he woke up he smelt food. He looked over and saw that Alec used his little firepit that was located near the entrance. Alec was eating the bird’s leg. When he saw that Magnus was watching he smiled and wiped his mouth. 

Magnus made his way over and sat next to him, making sure they weren’t too close. 

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, best sleep I’ve had in years,” Magnus lied.

Magnus could tell that Alec wasn’t convinced but he didn’t press on. They ate together in silence. Magnus knew what their next move had to be and he knew that the time came when he had to ask Alexander if they were going to stay together.

“Alec,” he said.

Alec looked surprised, Magnus wondered why.

“The Ravagers probably know of our hiding place now. We aren’t safe here. And you’re okay now. I was wondering what you wanted to do.”

“Do you mean if I wanted to stay with you or not?” 

Magnus nodded, “I think we work good together, and I trust you. I hope that you trust me too. I just figured that we could help each other out.”

Alec smiled, “I think that’s a great idea. Safety in numbers.”

“Now, I was thinking that we head north; I’ve seen animals go there. There must be some sort of forest there.”

“No,” Alexander said.

Magnus was surprised, how could his idea sound bad? Then he remembered the mission Alexander made for himself.

“We’re going to the Oasis.”

“Alexander, I really do not think that we’re going to find anything out there. That’s Ravager territory and don’t you think that they would have already found this so-called safe haven?”

“Magnus, I know there’s something out there. I can’t explain it but I know.”

Magnus opened his mouth to argue but he closed it again. He wanted Alec to be on his side.

“Magnus please, we have nothing left to lose. We’re probably just as likely to die going north as we are going east.”

“Well, not exactly, since east is Ravager territory!”

“Magnus! I met a man who lived there! He was leading his sister there, I don’t think that he would make that up. If he was able to make it through, then we can too.”

Magnus sighed, he knew that he wasn’t getting anywhere. Alec did have a point too. What did Magnus have to lose? Absolutely nothing. “Fine, you win,” he grumbled.

Alec nudged him, “Don’t be like that. I promise you, we’re going to be living the best lives we possibly can once we get there.”

“Once we’re done eating we should pack up. What weapon would you like?”

“Can I have your bow? I’m good at archery.”

“That makes one of us,” Magnus joked.

“Maybe I can teach you.”

Magnus nodded, “I would like that.” He got a slight feeling of excitement, knowing that he was going to spend more time bonding with him.

The two of them packed up. Magnus gave himself a mental note to make Alec his own pack, since his was destroyed by the rain. They could carry more supplies with two packs. They had to leave most of the pelts behind because there was no way they would all fit into Magnus’ bag along with the canteens and weapons. Alec had draped one over his shoulders. He said that he was pretty sure that winter was going to come while they were still traveling. 

Magnus had no idea how he got to this point. How he was now blindly following a guy he hadn’t met until a few days ago to a safe haven. He must be going mad.  
They walked in complete silence until the exited the forest, revealing miles of desert. Magnus looked back at the lush trees and sighed, he was going to miss this place. Now, he had to follow Alexander and pray that they were going to make it to their destination in one piece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that I've haven't posted the sequel to Stranded Chirstmas yet, I've been busy lately and haven't had the time. I'm currently working on it and will post it as soon as I can.


	7. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec travel through the desert

Magnus was boiling. He felt the sweat dripping down his back. After living in the forest so long, he had forgotten how awful the sun was. He also remembered how much he hated the desert. There was no place to hide, barely any resources and it was a miserable place in general. 

Alec didn’t seem to be as fazed as he was. Magnus supposed that this was because Alec had only just come into the woods when the rain hit. Before then he had been traveling through this for a long time. As much as Magnus wanted the heat to go away, he knew that the nights were freezing. Based off the position of the sun, they had about four more hours of daylight left. 

“You okay?” Alec asked. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine,” Magnus insisted. He pushed away the part of him that was flattered that Alec was concerned about him. He knew that the battle between himself and his feelings was a battle that was not close to ending. Magnus couldn’t just force himself to stop caring about someone, but he could ignore them and refuse to act upon them. 

“Magnus, I think you should sit down. I don’t want you to get heatstroke.”

“We should find somewhere to hide first,” Magnus said.

Alec raised his eyebrow, “Magnus-.”

“Alexander, I promise if I feel faint or anything I’ll let you know.”

He looked a little more satisfied with this answer and he turned and started to move again.

***

Alec knew that Magnus was more than capable with taking care of himself, but Magnus had gotten used to never being totally exposed to the sun because of the covering of the trees. When Magnus started to fall behind, Alec took the backpack. Magnus thanked him. 

They eventually made it over a rather large sand dune, the small area at the bottom was surrounded by more dunes. This would give them some cover. Alec declared that this was where they were going to camp out for the night. Magnus immediately fell onto his knees. Alec quickly took out a canteen and handed it over to him.

Magnus drank several quick gulps before closing the canteen. “We have to pace ourselves on our consumption. Who knows when we will come across water again.” 

Alec obviously knew where Magnus was coming from, but that rule was going to be pointless if Magnus ended up harming himself. 

“Drink a little more, we have water to spare. I’m going to do a quick look around and see if there’s any food.”

“I’ll help,” Magnus insisted. 

“No, you should take it easy.”

Magnus looked at him with reluctance and finally laid back, trying to cool his body off. 

Alec took out one of the knives and made his way over the dune they hadn’t crossed yet. He studied the ground for any holes in the ground, which could indicate bugs and small animals. He walked a good distance before he turned back, going in a slight diagonal direction. He spotted a decent sized burrow. Alec crouched by it and pulled out the knife. Slowly, he dragged it across the ground near the hole, hoping the animal inside would think that it was some prey. Suddenly a snake lurched out of the hole, hissing. The creature had heads on both ends, and both tried to bite at Alec. Alec was quick and stabbed it through its heart, located at the center of its body. These snakes weren’t exactly the best tasting food out there but there was certainly worse. 

He picked up the snake and brought it back to their camp. He stripped it of its skin and started to pull the meat off it, eating it. Magnus sat across from him and started pull off the meat. “It’s been so long since I’ve eaten one of these guys. Can’t say I was missing much.”

Alec laughed, “I was living off these before I ran into you. I’ve grown to like them.”

“My mom loved them,” Magnus said quietly. “She said that the heads were the best.”

“I’m sorry, about your loss,” Alec replied.

Magnus shrugged, “I’m over it.”

Alec knew that Magnus wasn’t telling the truth but Alec did the exact same thing when they first met. He had brushed off the loss of his family like it was nothing, not as if he never stopped thinking about them or would often cry when he thought about them. Alec had gotten used to being alone but that didn’t mean that he liked it. It was lonely and sometimes he wondered if there was even a point of going on. Sure, there was his hope that his family was still alive but it hurt not knowing if there was a single person on the planet that cared about him. 

 

As night fell, so did the temperature. The two of them laid next to each other, looking at the dark, starry sky.

“I do hope that The Oasis has some place I can properly clean myself,” Magnus said. “I’ve heard about things like soap and it always seemed nice to not feel grime on you for once.”  
“Can you imagine something better than cleaning yourself up in a river?”

“Like warm water.”

Alec grinned, “That sounds amazing! It would be so relaxing.” Alec went silent for a second, trying to think of something to say, he started thinking about everything he had heard regarding the world before the war. “I would really like to see a cow. They sound so cute.”

Magnus laughed, turning onto his side to face Alec, “Why cows?”

“They sound like they were really sweet, and they give you milk. How could you not want to see one?”

Magnus looked at him, and for a second, Alec thought he saw something in his eyes. It almost looked like…adoration. As soon as he spotted it, the look went away. 

“I hope you get to see a cow one day, Alexander,” he said softly. 

Alec smiled, “I hope so too.”

***

As the moon went higher in the sky, the colder Magnus became. They were sharing the pelt that Alec brought but the chilled air still made its way to his skin. Magnus couldn’t sleep, he was too cold. Trying to preserve his heat, he curled up into a ball.

“Magnus?” Alec asked. “You asleep?”

Magnus turned to him., “No, what’s wrong?”

“I was uh, wondering if you…would want to come closer. It’ll be warmer.”

Magnus contemplated his options for a second. Being warm and being close to Alec sounded pretty great but on the other hand, he’s been trying to distance himself from him. In the end, the pros outweighed the cons. Screw it, Magnus thought and scooted closer to Alec. Alec stretched out his arm so Magnus could rest his head on him. Magnus slowly put him arm over Alec’s chest. Alec looked at him with a small smile on his face. He looked so gorgeous, Magnus couldn’t take his eyes off of him. 

Alec bit his lip and leaned forward slightly. Fear overcame Magnus and he broke their eye contact, not wanting things to escalate. Alec settled down, glancing at him once in a while. Magnus got himself comfortable and whispered to Alec, “Goodnight.” 

Despite everything, Magnus enjoyed the feeling of holding someone in his arms.


	8. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than usual (which is saying something since my chapters are short to begin with) I had to write this up on my tablet last night because when I was in the middle of writing this chapter my computer went black and it said that the hard drive wasn't responding. I got it to work so I hoping it was a one time thing.

When Magnus woke up, he didn’t bother opening his eyes, he knew that it wasn’t morning yet. The night air was making his face cold. Pressing his face into the warmth that surrounded him, he began to doze off. Alec’s scent was so nice, there was something about it that just made Magnus feel at home and safe. 

Alec shifted slightly, “Your breathing tickles,” he rasped. 

Magnus pulls back so he could look at the man beside him, “Sorry.” 

Alec turned so they were facing each other, “Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind.” The moonlight reflected in Alec’s eyes, making them more beautiful than before, if that was even possible.

“What were you like? Before we met?”

“The same as I am now.”

“Come on, you must have been different in some way.”

Magnus avoided Alec gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Alec said quickly. “That’s none of my business.”

Magnus was tempted to kiss him right then and there. Alec was always so considerate of him and his feelings. Alec was a good soul, there was no question about it.

“It’s okay, Alexander. It’s just something I don't like to talk about.”

Alec nodded, “I understand.”

“But I trust you,” Magnus continued. “You always mean the best. A little while before we met, I met a woman, and I fell for her so quickly. She was amazing and made me feel loved. We were going to stay with each other until the end of our lives. At least that’s what he tricked me into believing. I now look back and realized how manipulative she was and how she always had to get her way. Like a fool, I was so in love with her I failed to notice the bad. Then one night I woke up with her gone along with all of our things. She made a giant fire that gave away my position and I was attacked.” Magnus paused, “The way I fought them haunts me to this day…I was no longer me. It was like I became this mindless animal who wanted to kill.”

Magnus watched Alec as he talked. There was no judgement in his face, only sympathy and understanding. “After that I lost myself for a while. I was so upset with Camille I couldn’t think straight, there were points where I didn’t want to live. I had already lost my mom, now I lost the woman I loved. It was hard. And I kept telling myself that I was a monster.” Magnus felt a tear slide down his cheek.

Alec wiped it away with his thumb, “You’re not a monster. You’re far from it. You did what you had to do to survive.” Magnus felt Alec press his lips to his forehead. “You’re amazing, Magnus. Thank you for telling me”

Magnus hugged Alec. He was already fond of Alec before, now he adored him. Alec didn’t judge him.

As Magnus felt himself calm down, he pulled away from their embrace, and said in a light tone, “The things love does to us.”

Alec smiled, “I wouldn’t know since I’ve never been in love before.”

“You haven’t?”

Alec shook his head, “It’s a bit hard to meet people out here. I’ve never even been kissed.”

“Maybe one day.”

Alec nodded, “I’m fine with it though. If one day someone comes along and I fall for them, then I’ll be happy. If it doesn’t, I’ll still be happy.”

Magnus smiled at him. The way he sounded so positive when it came to his life, gave Magnus joy. He had never met anyone like Alec. 

As they fell asleep, with their laughter still in the air, Magnus realized something. He was falling hard for Alexander.


	9. Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus flirts and later finds himself in an awful situation

Alec woke up feeling the boiling hot. The sun had come out and was shining right on them. The pelt was absorbing the heat, making it feel like Alec was in an oven. He pushed himself up. His movement also woke Magnus up. His face was shiny with sweat. Magnus sat up, wiping his forehead. “Damn, it’s hot,” he said.

“Maybe we should start traveling at night, this desert it hotter than the one I came from.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been here, I don’t know what creatures come out at night.”

“We can play it by ear. Let’s just keep an eye out for signs that there’s something here.”

Magnus stood up and reached for his pack. He took off his shirt and pulled one out of his bag. Alec couldn’t help but stare at him. He was gorgeous. Magnus’ muscles flexed as he put the new shirt on. Alec bit his lip, he wanted Magnus so badly. That man was perfect in every single way possible. He was kind, badass and was just hot in general. He preferred this shirt over the old one, this one cut off at his bicep, showing his arms off. Alec was amazed how Magnus could get so muscular. Alec was strong himself, but he didn’t look nearly as good as Magnus did. 

Magnus turned and saw Alec staring. Alec looked away, a part of him was embarrassed that he got caught, the other wanted to embrace it, he wanted Magnus to know that he felt something for him. He wanted him to know that he was the most beautiful man he has ever seen. He didn’t want to risk it though, he didn’t know if Magnus liked men and didn’t want to risk ruining their friendship. 

“Like what you see?” Magnus teased.

“No! I mean uh, yes. No!” Alec babbled. 

Magnus laughed, “Calm down, Alexander.” Magnus started walking up the dune, before leaving Alec’s sight he looked back and said, “For the record, I’m flattered that you find me attractive.”

Magnus left Alec dumbfounded. There was a fuzzy feeling in his stomach, Magnus had just flirted with him! Did that mean he had a chance? Alec touched his lips, wondering what kissing felt like, or more importantly, kissing Magnus. 

“You coming?” he heard Magnus.

“Yeah!” he hollered back. As he made his way up the dune, Alec tried to get all of those thoughts out of his head. He would wait for a couple more signs that indicated that Magnus was interested before he made a move. Alec smiled to himself. Nothing at that moment seemed better than kissing Magnus.

***

Magnus could not stop thinking about Alexander, the way he felt his gaze as he changed his shirt. Alec wasn’t subtle and watching him get flustered was adorable. Alec was smiling the entire time they were walking. He wondered what was on his mind, and a part of him hoped that Alec was thinking of him. 

Why did things have to be so hard? He wanted Alec, but he was scared. Camille left a seed of doubt in his head. It made him doubt his worth and whether or not he was loveable. Magnus was confident that Alec would never do to him what Camille did. Then again, when he first met her, he never imagined her doing it either. Maybe Alec deserved someone better than him. After all, Alec was a great man.  
He shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. Opening his pack, he got out his spare shirt and tied it on his head, protecting him from the sun. Magnus didn’t remember ever feeling so hot before. 

Alec caught up to him and walked beside him, “You okay?”

“Yeah, let’s hope that the Oasis has covering from the sun.”

Alec smiled, “I’m sure if there’s as many people as I’ve heard, they must have done something.”

“I’ve never thought that I would hate the sun this much.”

Alec chuckled. “Hopefully there’s some shelter we can stop at.”

 

The two of them continued on. Based off the position of the sun, dusk was in a couple of hours. Magnus was starting to look for places to take shelter for the night. However, this time there wasn’t two dunes they could hide between. The terrain was flat, they would probably have to keep watch tonight.

Suddenly Alec (who was slightly ahead of him) stopped dead in his tracks. Magnus caught up with him, “What’s wrong?” That was when he saw it. There were large circular prints in the ground. A little up ahead there was some sort of carcass. 

“What did this?”

“I don’t know, whatever it is, it’s really big.”

“I’m going to see what it killed over there.”

Magnus walked towards the creature. It was a sand bird. These birds lived in burrows in the ground and it was very uncommon for them to even leave their homes. Whatever the reason was, it wasn’t good. “It’s a sand bird!” Magnus yelled out. 

Alec joined him and examined it. The bird was almost cut in half, and based off the blood that surrounded it, the kill was quite recent. 

“We should get out of here,” Alec said.

Magnus nodded. “Let’s not follow the tracks.” 

The tracks led south, which was good considering they weren’t heading in the direction to begin with. 

As they started walking again, Magnus was tense, there was something weird about that whole area, many desert animals had some sort of adaptation that allowed them to not leave tracks. So why would this one be any different? 

“Magnus? Is that another animal?”

Looking ahead, Magnus saw yet another torn-apart animal. Magnus looked at Alec, silently asking him if they should investigate. Alec nodded and they walked towards it. They gathered around it. This one looked like it was mummified. 

“I don’t like this,” Alec breathed. 

“We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Come on.” Magnus took a few steps forward when all of a sudden, the ground where he was standing on gave way. The next thing Magnus knew, he was on the ground, laying on something that crunched when he landed. 

He looked up at the light shining at him and saw Alec staring down at him, “Magnus!” he said, hushed. “You okay? I’m going to get you out of there!”

Magnus gave him a thumb up and looked around. He was in a large underground tunnel, Alec was a good fifteen feet above him. There was no way Magnus could climb up on his own. Magnus looked down on the ground he was laying on and covered his mouth, muffling his scream. All around him was a bunch of bones and decaying animals…humans too. Magnus shuffled his way out of the pile. Trying to calm himself down, he looked at Alec, who clearly saw what Magnus was dealing with.

“Don’t worry! I’ll get you out soon! I’ll be right back!”

Magnus was happy that Alec was going to get him out but he also was upset that he was left alone in this cave full of dead. 

Off into the distance, Magnus heard the faint sound of something moving. Something big. Dread filled Magnus as he realized that he wasn’t alone after all.


	10. Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus tries to escape the tunnels while being pursued by something that wants to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you guys are going to like this chapter (;

Magnus slowly stood up, his knees were bent, allowing him to be light on his feet. His heart was hammering in his chest, his hands shaking. Whatever killed those animals was here. This was its home and Magnus had fallen right into it. There had to be some way out of here. The creature must have some way of coming and going, because there weren’t random sink holes throughout the desert. Magnus pulled out his machete and began to walk in the opposite direction of the sound. He treaded lightly, making sure he wasn’t too loud or stepping on anything. 

Alexander will find a way to help, he told himself. He wished that Alec was with him. His odds of making it out of this cavern would be a lot higher. 

The deeper he went into the tunnel, the darker it got, making it difficult for Magnus to watch where he was stepping. The clicking noise he heard was growing more and more faint as he went along. He just hoped that he wasn’t heading towards a dead end. 

Every corner he rounded, he ached to see some sort of light, anything to make him feel like he was going to make it. No, it only seemed like he was in an endless maze, heading into the mouth of something that would love to have him for dinner. 

Snap! His stomach churned when he felt something crunch under his foot. It was likely a bone. As soon as he heard a screeching noise from behind him, he took off. He could hear the clicking get closer, the creature was fast, he had to do something or he would be caught any second.

Looking every single way imaginable, Magnus could only make out the shape of things. A couple yards ahead of him, he could make out some sort of pile. He felt his legs go even faster than before, if that was even possible. He dove into the pile, making himself hidden. As he stilled, he realized that this was another pile of prey. He silently gagged as he smelt the rotting flesh. As he laid there, he noticed that right next to his head was a hand. A human hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

The clicking had grown less frequent. Magnus realized that it must be trying to pinpoint his location without being able to hear his movements. 

Hopefully this animal relied more on hearing than any other sense. Most predators used hearing and scent. Shit, Magnus said to himself. It was more than likely that the creature could smell him. He slowly raised his hand with the machete and hacked off a chunk of a rotting giant prairie dog. He rubbed the decaying flesh all over himself, trying to stop himself from vomiting. Once he was sure that his scent was masked, he stopped moving and closed his eyes. He had to stay calm. 

Soon the clicking was right next to him. He could have sworn he heard the sound of the creature sniffing. His heart skipped a beat, he felt his breathing pick up. The creature was going to find him, he knew it. 

However, the thing started to move away from him, going deeper into the tunnel. Magnus instantly relaxed. He knew he wasn’t safe yet but he was okay for now. 

That was when he heard a moaning noise next to him. He realized with horror that the person that the hand belonged to was still alive! He heard the creature scream and knew that it was coming for them. Magnus looked at the person, it was a woman. There was no way she could even stand up, clearly, she was starving and on the brink of death. She was left here to die. 

Magnus squeezed his eyes shut and whispered, “I’m sorry.” before pushing her out of the pile and onto the tunnel floor. Tears started to run down his face. He was disgusted by himself. How could he just sacrifice someone for himself? You’re a selfish bastard, he told himself. 

The creature arrived and Magnus could now somewhat see what it looked like. It had four long, large legs that reminded him of a spider, with long arm-like pinchers located by its huge jaws. He couldn’t see any eyes and wondered it that was due to the lack of light or simply because it didn’t have any. 

He closed his eyes as it buried its fangs into her. She barely made any noise, making Magnus feel worse. Once he opened his eyes again, he saw that the woman looked mummified, almost as if all of her insides were sucked out. The monster started to move again, this time it didn’t appear to be in a hurry, it probably thought that the thing it had been chasing was the woman. As it walked back towards the cavern Magnus landed in, Magnus slid out of the pile and started to creep onwards. He went around several corners before he saw the light. He wanted nothing more than to sprint towards it, but he knew that the noise was likely to attract attention. As he made his way forward, he noticed a shadow block some of the light. It was in the shape of a man. In the shape of Alec. 

Magnus waved his hand at him, getting his attention. 

“Magnus!” he called out with relief.

Although Magnus would have normally been flattered that he cared so much, all he could think about was how that was way too loud. The clicking began, the creature was heading for them. Magnus ran, “Run, Alec! Run!” 

Alec turned and disappeared from Magnus’ sight.

Magnus could hear the thing get closer and closer to him. The exit was nearing, Magnus could almost taste the freedom. As he entered the light, he wanted nothing more than to collapse, but he knew this thing could go outside of its cave, after all those tracks they saw earlier belonged to it. Magnus saw that Alec had stopped running and was waiting for him to catch up. As Magnus headed towards him, there was a sudden burn sensation around his ankle. He was pulled off his feet and was being dragged. The creature had grabbed Magnus by its pinchers and was reeling him in as if he was a fish. Magnus swung his machete but wasn’t able to reach. 

Suddenly, there was a rush of air that went over his head. An arrow buried itself into what Magnus could only presume was the creature’s head. It squealed and let go of Magnus. Magnus pushed himself up and ran to Alec, despite the pain that was in his ankle. It was like the creature had stung him. 

Magnus didn’t know how long they ran, but when they did stop, he collapsed, completely exhausted. Alec sat next to him, “What the hell was that thing?”

“I don’t fucking know!” Magnus wheezed. 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize that I was so loud! I could have gotten you killed! I was so stupid! I’m so sorry, Magnus!” 

Magnus put his hand on Alec’s, “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

He wasn’t, his ankle hurt, he was covered in rotting flesh and couldn’t get the picture of him pushing that woman out of his mind.

Alec pulled Magnus up, “You don’t have to lie to me,” he whispered.

Magnus shook his head, not even daring to speak. 

“Come on, when I was looking for you I found some place we can camp.”

Alec led him to a little patch of growth. They could harvest all the water from here. This was good. 

Alec sat Magnus down and pulled out one of the cloths that was in Magnus’ pack along with a canteen of water. He soaked the cloth and started to wipe Magnus’ face. Magnus stayed silent the entire time, focusing only on the feeling of the cloth wiping his face, his neck, his arms. Alec put aside the cloth and looked at Magnus, clearly conflicted. Magnus couldn’t find it in himself to ask what was wrong. Alec reached over and grabbed the hem of his shirt, Alec made eye contact with Magnus, asking for his permission. Magnus nodded. Alec removed his shirt and helped him put on a different one. Alec pulled out another pair of pants and handed them to Magnus to put on. After he finished changing, Magnus looked at his hands, they were clean, except for the trace of blood under his fingernails. 

“Magnus?” he heard Alec say. 

Magnus gave him a small smile, “Thank you.”

“You okay?” Alec repeated.

“I will be.”

 

They spent the next couple of hours in silence. Alec was filling up their bottles and chopping down the drained plants to eat. After their dinner, Magnus told Alec everything that took place in the caves. Alec never once interrupted him, he listened him intently and when Magnus was done, he held his hand reassuringly. 

Magnus still wasn’t perfectly fine, but he felt a lot better getting it off his chest. Alec made him feel better about the decisions he made. 

Night fell and they laid next to each other. Alec turned to him and said, “I was so worried about you! I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find you, and if I did, whether or not you would be alive. I was terrified,” his voice cracked. 

Magnus raised his eyebrows but before he could speak, Alec lurched forward and collided their lips together. Shocked, Magnus stayed still as he felt Alec’s lips against his. As sudden as it was, Alec pulled away. “I’m sorry, I just thought…forget it. I’m sorry.” He started to get up when Magnus grabbed his wrist. 

“Don’t be sorry,” he said softly. Alec was so adorable. Magnus knew that now he had gotten a taste of those lips, he could never go back. Magnus gently cupped the back of Alec’s head and pulled him close. Magnus took Alec’s bottom lip between his and kissed him gently. Alec’s kisses were uncertain and hesitant at first but soon he grew more confident. Magnus hummed in approval as he felt Alec’s tongue swipe against his lip. 

Before things could escalate farther, Alec pulled away, with a grin on his face. Magnus returned the smile, equally as wide and gave him one last quick peck on the lips. 

The two of them eventually fell asleep, with Magnus’ chest pressed up against Alec’s back, their fingers intertwined.


	11. Refuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec continue their travels and find a nice place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is out a little earlier than usual because I'm going to be busy all day and won't get home until late. But hey, that's not a bad thing. 
> 
> Also, DID YOU GUYS SEE THE MALEC TEASER?

Alec woke up during the night, he felt Magnus wrapped around him. Smiling, he pressed himself against Magnus even more. He couldn’t believe that they kissed. That he kissed him. Alec traced his lips with his fingers, feeling giddy. It was somehow even better than he had imagined it being. He maneuvered himself so he could turn to look at Magnus without disturbing him. His face was free of all worry lines and all the shock from the day had disappeared. 

He shuddered thinking about that creature. That thing was something straight out of nightmares. Considering that Alec had never heard of anything like that before, those creatures probably weren’t common. Alec was so scared, he could only imagine what Magnus must have felt. As soon as he felt Magnus in that hole, he made his way back to where they originally found the tracks. He followed them until they disappeared. That was when Alec felt so defeated, if he was in different circumstances he probably would have given up. He knew he couldn’t, he had to save Magnus. 

Alec didn’t know how he did it, he gave credit to luck. After walking aimlessly through that desert, something happened to catch his eye. There appeared to be a burrow off in the distance. As he got closer to it, he realized that it was gigantic, similar to how that tunnel was. 

Peering into the tunnel, he made out Magnus’ shape. Relief washed over him. He hadn’t lost him. 

***

Magnus woke up, hearing the soft snores coming from Alec. He grinned and hovered above him, gently kissing him. Alec stirred and opened his eyes, looking up at Magnus with surprise. He chuckled and put his hand against Magnus’ cheek. “Morning,” he whispered.

Magnus leaned into his touch, “Morning. How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a long time.”

“Really?” Magnus asked. 

Alec nodded, “Yeah.” He grabbed Magnus by the shirt and yanked him towards him, kissing him once more. Although they started out soft and sweet, they grew hungrier. Magnus was so lost in Alexander, his touch, his scent, everything about him. He never realized how much he longed for this kind of attention until now. He loved that he could feel what Alec felt for him through his touch, through his kisses. He never wanted it to end. 

Before he knew it, he was straddling Alec, his lips wandering from his mouth to his jawline. Alec let out a pleased noise, his fist closing tighter around Magnus’ shirt. Magnus wanted Alec, so much, but he didn’t want to rush into things. He pulled away slightly, so his lips were just brushing against the skin under his ear. “We should get going.”

“I know,” he breathed. “But I don’t want to.”

Magnus got off of him and stood up, stretching his legs. “I don’t really want to either, but if we’re going to get to the Oasis anytime soon…”

Alec got serious at that. Magnus knew that it was because he automatically thought of his family when he heard that word. Magnus didn’t want to tell him, but he didn’t really think that there was any way his family survived that Ravager attack. He hoped that Alec wouldn’t take the hit too hard when they reached the supposed safe haven. 

They walked on. Magnus managed to catch a rodent for their meal later. They had plenty of water from the plants they found the day before, things were looking good. 

Once the sun started to set, they built a small fire and cooked the meat. As soon as it was cooked, they put out the fire, not wanting to attract any people. Afterwards, they fell asleep. 

***

A couple days went by, Alec was growing tired of traveling through this seemingly endless desert and he knew Magnus was too. Their water supply was starting to get low. Alec wanted nothing more than to find some sort of forest to take refuge in for a few days. He wanted to rinse the sand off his body. It was impossible to get all of it off on his own. 

“You doing okay?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah,” Alec smiled. He and Magnus have grown closer in the past few days. Alec had never felt anything like this before. It was a wonderful feeling. No matter what they faced during the day, he was always cheered up when he saw Magnus. Just hearing his voice made him feel lighter. Alec was pretty sure that he was in love with him, but he wasn’t totally sure. After all, he had never even been in a relationship with anyone before Magnus. How was he supposed to know what love felt like? However, he knew that if he wasn’t in love yet, he sure was falling for him. 

Movement caught Alec’s eye. “Magnus!” he whispered.

When Magnus looked at him, Alec tilted his head in the direction of the movement. It was a group of men, Alec could make out a circle branded into two of the men’s necks. They both simultaneously dropped to the ground. 

“Two of them are Circle members,” Alec whispered.

“I know, I saw the mark. What should we do?”

“We should stay quiet and hidden unless they see us. More than likely they have guns.”

These men were moving slowly, Alec rolled his eyes those bastards were so cocky, they thought that the world revolved around them. Luckily the Ravager group was not heading towards them, but instead towards the direction they were heading.

“They must be heading back to their little headquarters,” Magnus said. 

“But there’s no way we can keep going with them just a little bit ahead of us.”

“At least we know we’re heading in the right direction,” Magnus said trying to lighten the mood.

“What are we going to do once they’re gone?”

“How about we head north for a bit? After all, we can still use the stars to see where we’re going. After we find some shelter we can camp out and head back east in the morning.”

Alec nodded. “Good idea.”

Once the Ravagers left their sight, they started heading north. This part of the desert was even flatter than the area they were in before, if that was even possible. They walked on for a few hours, only stopping for a water break. They were down to the last canteen now. 

“We’ll be okay,” Magnus said. “Flatter ground usually has more vegetation.”

Alec hoped that Magnus was right. 

The sun was starting to set again when they noticed trees off in the distance. They looked at each other once before running towards it. From where they were standing, the trees looked dense, it was likely a forest. 

Once they were covered by the trees, Alec couldn’t feel happier. Grinning, he kissed Magnus. “Let’s find somewhere to camp out.”

Although relieved they were finally out of the desert, Alec was still wary. Forests were highly populated, they had to be careful. Magnus looked for tracks, but it looked as if no person had set foot here in a long time. 

When the sound of roaring water reached their ears, they couldn’t help but go towards it. The trees cleared and what Alec saw took his breath away. It was a waterfall, it wasn’t a big one, probably about ten feet tall, but that didn’t make it any less beautiful. The moonlight was reflecting off of it, shimmering. Alec felt like he had stepped into some magical land.

“Let’s look around, if it looks safe, we will stay here,” Magnus said.

***

Once they declared that the coast was clear, they began to set up camp. They found a little covered canopy of sorts. It was secluded and therefore the perfect place for them to sleep. Magnus pulled out the pelt and set it on the ground. He then made little makeshift pillows out of their clothes and the empty pack. Their weapons were laid close to their little bed, just in case. 

Magnus laid down, although the ground wasn’t softer than the sand he was used to sleeping on, he felt more relaxed. It was probably because he was so used to the forest, it was like home to him. He waited for Alec, who was eating some berries he found, to join him. Instead, Alec turned to him and said, “I’m going to fill up the canteens.”

“I’ll keep your spot warm,” Magnus joked.

Alec smiled and left. 

Magnus laid there for a while, waiting for Alexander to return. Minutes went by, and he hadn’t returned. Starting to grow worried, Magnus sat up. What if he was wrong and there was someone else in these woods? What if they got Alexander? Magnus couldn’t lose him. He had to make sure that he was okay.


	12. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus searches for Alec

Cold air grazed Magnus’ face. There was nothing better than a night in the forest. Magnus’ heart pounded in his chest as he scanned through the trees. Everything was still, that worried him. Maybe someone was waiting for him to walk by, waiting to attack. “Alexander?” he said in a loud whisper. 

Suddenly he heard the sound of water. A splash to be exact. He ran noiselessly through the brush. After years of periodically living in the woods, he was an expert of stealth. Coming close to the drop off where the waterfall was, Magnus dove into the bushes. He peeked through his hiding place, looking at the water. From where he was, it looked like nothing but a black pool that moonlight reflected off of.   
Strange, he thought to himself. Where did that noise come from? 

What appeared to be a head poked up through the water. Magnus raised his eyebrows with surprise, he had no idea the water was that deep. The figure ran its hands through its hair. Magnus waited to see if other people showed up. 

Nothing, this person appeared to be alone. Magnus slowly made his way down to where the bank of the pool was, trying to get a closer look of the person. Ducking into a bush once more, Magnus noted the clothes that laid askew along the water’s edge. This confirmed to him that the stranger was alone. Following the trail of the clothes, he noticed a bow. Alexander’s bow. He quickly looked at the person in the pool and strained his eyes to get a clearer look. Now that he was closer, he could make out his shape. Magnus sighed with relief, his Alexander was safe. 

Magnus felt creepy to be hiding there but he wasn’t sure what to do, he wanted more than anything to join him, but he didn’t know if that want was reciprocated. Eventually, Magnus slipped out of his cover and walked towards where Alec’s clothes were discarded. 

“You had me scared for a moment there.”

Alec jumped then turned. Magnus could just make out his smile. “Sorry, I just had to get all the sand off of me.”

“It’s okay, I’m just glad that you’re safe.”

Silence overcame them. Magnus had never felt this awkward around him before. There was an unspoken question hanging between them. 

“You going to come in or what?” Alec teased.

Magnus chuckled. He took off his shirt, feeling the caked-on sand fall off him. His pants then followed, making sure his movements were slow because he could feel Alec’s gaze on him. 

“Like what you see?” Magnus called out. He looked at Alec who looked at him, almost as if he was in awe. Magnus glanced at Alec’s clothing on the ground, realizing then he was still over-dressed. He then slowly peeled off his underwear. Magnus walked into the water, it was surprisingly a lot warmer than he had expected. However, it was still cold enough to make him shiver. 

Making his way towards him, Alec said, “Isn’t this great? I haven’t seen anything like this for a long time!”

“It sure is beautiful, and you certainly make the view even better,” Magnus grinned. 

“I had just gotten in when you showed up, I still need to wash some of this sand off.” 

“I can help with that,” Magnus said softly. 

Alec nodded and got closer to Magnus, close enough so Magnus could feel his heat through the water. Turning his back to Magnus, Alec leaned against his chest. Magnus pressed a kiss to his hair before scooping up some water to rinse Alec’s hair. Magnus almost got lost in a trance, the feeling of his fingers running through his hair, rinsing away all the sand, the feeling of Alec’s back against him. As Magnus’ hands started to wander to his shoulders and upper chest, Alec put his head back so it was resting on Magnus’ shoulder. As he ran his hands over Alec’s skin, he felt a gentle kiss on the side of his neck. 

He shifted slightly and cupped Alec’s jaw, bringing his lips to his. Alec’s lips were so intoxicating, Magnus couldn’t get enough of them. Alec pulled away slightly, just so his lips were barely brushing against his own. “Magnus, I think I’m in love with you.”

Magnus laughed, but not a laugh of humor, a laugh of happiness. “I think I’m in love with you too.”

“I’m so happy you found me that day.”

“Me too.”

Alec softly kissed him again. “Let me clean you up.”

Magnus nodded and turned, doing the same as what Alec was doing beforehand. He closed his eyes as he felt Alec clean his hair, running his fingers through the sand-packed knots. Once satisfied with that, Alec started to massage his shoulders, making all the tension leave him. 

“Is this okay?” Alec asked.

Magnus nodded. “More than okay.”

Magnus didn’t know how long they spent in the water, their hands wandering around each other’s bodies, cleaning themselves up. Soon, they had their arms wrapped around one another and were kissing rather heatedly. Magnus’ hands ended up on Alec’s butt, Alec humming approvingly. 

Magnus kissed down his neck, stopping at his collarbone. Alec moaned. Arousal flooded his body, he wanted Alexander. He pulled away, looking at him right in the eye. “Do you want to?”

Alec nodded, “Yes.”

Magnus smiled and met his lips once more. Cupping Alec’s face in his hands, he started to guide them back to the dry land. Giggling as they went, they eventually made it. Magnus pinned Alec to the ground, slipping his tongue into his mouth, Alec grabbed at his back.

Magnus pulled away from him slightly, “You sure?”

“Yeah,” Alec said, breathless.

“I love you,” Magnus said quickly, capturing his lips once more.

***

Alec laid there, resting his head on Magnus’ chest. Magnus was sound asleep. Alec couldn’t sleep, not because he was upset or worrying but because he was so happy. Every touch, every sensation he experienced tonight was amazing. He never thought he would ever have something like this. Someone he could love, someone who could tell him everything only through touch. He brushed his fingers over some of the marks Magnus left on his body, he laughed to himself. He didn’t even know if he had ever felt this happy before. 

Suddenly, Magnus moved, bringing Alec closer. “You’re thinking too loud.”

“I was just thinking about you.”

“Good things I hope.”

“I don’t think I could anything other than good things when it comes to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the calm before the storm ;)


	13. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec have a small disagreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't the best...oh well.
> 
> Fun story: I thought someone broke into my house earlier and I crawled around with my phone ready to call the police...thankfully there wasn't anybody

Magnus woke up as the sun was starting to rise. He shivered, wondering why he felt so cold. Then he remembered, he had no clothes on. Smiling, he looked at Alec, who was sleeping soundly. A part of Magnus wanted to wake him up, just so he could talk to him. Their conversations were never dull. Magnus glanced to the scattered clothes beside him, he got up slowly so he didn’t disturb Alec. He slipped his clothes on and stretched his legs, then drank some of the water from the pool. The sun was rising, Magnus sighed, he knew that they would have to leave soon. That was the problem, he didn’t want to leave. This place was a paradise. Their paradise. Magnus knew Alec’s reasons for wanting to keep going but what was the point of finding some place they didn’t even know was real when they had this? 

The sound of movement made Magnus turn. Alec was turning in his sleep, reaching for Magnus. Magnus returned to him and laid next to him, “Don’t worry, I’m still here. I’m never going to leave you, I promise.”

***

Alec woke up to the feeling of Magnus kissing him. Opening his eyes, Alec was greeted by Magnus, smiling down at him. “Good morning,” he whispers, pulling Magnus to him. Cupping Magnus’ face, Alec pulls away and studies him. How was is possible for a man to be as handsome as he was? 

Magnus kissed his palm, “What?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Magnus smiled, “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Feeling bold, Alec flipped them, so he was on top of Magnus, he kissed at his lips, tugging at his shirt. “You’re overdressed.”

“I was cold,” Magnus whispered, gazing at Alec’s lips.

“I’ve heard that body heat is a good way to warm up.”

Magnus playfully shoved him, laughing. “Come here.”

***

Magnus was following some fresh tracks, it looked like some sort of hooved animal. He talked to Alec after they got dressed and they both agreed that it was a good decision to stay here for a couple day so they could stock up on food. Magnus secretly hoped that the couple of days would change Alec’s mind about leaving. He hadn’t mentioned anything about it to him, not yet at least. 

He spotted a deer and crouched. Slowly, he took out his knife and raised it, moving it slightly. He then drew it back and launched it forward. He hit the animal right in the head. When Magnus was younger, he didn’t like it when his mom killed for food. He would cry when he saw the dead animals. That changed with time, Magnus learned that you had to kill in this world to make it. For food and for survival. He lifted the deer up over his shoulders and headed back to camp. 

Alec was already there and greeted him with a smile, “I see we’re not going to go hungry for a while.” His smile disappeared, “What’s wrong?”

Magnus didn’t realize that he looked upset, “I was just thinking about my mom and how I used to get upset when she hunted.”

Pulled into him, Magnus buried his face in his chest. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s normal to still miss her, even though it happened a long time ago.”

“There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t miss my family. You know that’s why I wanted to go to the Oasis to begin with, even if it’s not a guarantee. If they’re not there…at least I have you.”  
Magnus smiled, “I’m glad that I rescued you. I would have been missing out.”

Alec kissed him, gently and slowly. 

“Alexander, I was wondering, if you wanted to stay here,” Magnus began. “It’s just that this place is wonderful and safe. We can still go and check to see the Oasis. Then, perhaps we go back.”

Alec looked at him incredulously, “You really don’t believe it’s real, do you?”

“I’ve been skeptical, you know that.”

“But you know how much this means to me! If there was a possibility that your mom was still alive, I know you would feel the same as I do!”

Magnus couldn’t argue with that. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m still finding it hard to believe that there can actually be a place that is completely safe!”

Alec groaned, putting his hands on his head, “I’m going to take a walk.” Without saying anything else, Alec turned and walked away, not looking back.

As soon as he was out of sight, Magnus collapsed, this was it, Alec was leaving him. He was leaving him just like how Camille did. The only difference was that this time it was actually Magnus’ fault. Tears started to roll down him face, he had finally gotten what he always wanted, a companion. Now, it was all over. Maybe, all those thoughts he had in the past were true, maybe he was unlovable.

***

When Alec returned, it was starting to get dark. He hadn’t really gone anywhere, he had just walked around and explore this little forest. He wasn’t mad at Magnus, he understood where he was coming from, but that didn’t make it any less hard. 

He made it to the place where they were stayed and saw Magnus curled up in a ball. At first he thought that he was asleep but as he got closer he realized that he was crying. He knelt down next to him, “Magnus?”

Magnus sat up, with surprise on his face. “You came back.”

“Of course, I did, why would I leave?”

“You were mad and just left.”

Alec immediately felt guilty, he should have told Magnus that he was coming back. He knew how Camille abandoned him, he should have known that Magnus would have thought he was doing the same. “I’m not going anywhere. I was upset, but I would never leave you over something like that. I love you Magnus, I don’t think I could live without you.” He waited for Magnus to make the next move, unsure of what he wanted.

“Can you just hold me?” he said softly.

“Of course,” Alec pulled Magnus to him. He knew that Magnus needed this more than he did but having Magnus’ arms around him made all he negative feelings he had that day vanish. “I should have told you I was coming back.”

“You shouldn’t have to. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how she left me, how she made me feel about myself.”

Alec kissed his forehead, “There’s nothing wrong with being upset, you have a valid reason to be.” 

Magnus smiled softly as Alec wiped his remaining tears away with his thumbs.


	14. Spotted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec start traveling again. Alec tells Magnus about his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted the sequel to my other story , "Stranded Christmas" a couple of days ago. Please check it out! 
> 
> Also thank you for the kudos and comments, they make my day!

The days passed by too quickly, in Magnus’ eyes. It was time for them to leave, Magnus was still a bit reluctant about the whole thing and Alec knew that. After talking about it, Magnus realized that he had his concerns too. They agreed with Magnus’ plan: they would see if the Oasis was real, if it wasn’t they would head back. 

The only problem with this plan was the fact that Ravager territory was involved. They hadn’t encountered any since they accidently stumbled upon the forest but that didn’t mean that they weren’t out there. Even though it would take them longer, they decided to go wide around the area, they couldn’t risk being spotted.

As they left their own little paradise, Magnus couldn’t help but look back. In addition to it being a rather safe area for them to take refuge, that place held a lot of memories, even though they weren’t there for that long. It was where they said their first, “I love yous” and made love and had their first argument. 

Magnus didn’t realize that he had stopped until he felt Alec’s fingers intertwine with his. “I am going to miss this place,” Alec said. “But it doesn’t matter where we are, where we’re staying. I’m okay as long as you’re here.”

Smiling, Magnus pulled him towards him and kissed him. “Wow, you’re quite the poet,” he teased.

“You love it,” Alec grinned against his lips.

***

Alec looked as Magnus slept beside him, he looked so peaceful. Watching his body raise up and down, Alec smiled. He couldn’t sleep, he didn’t know why. Maybe it was because he was worried. What if this had all been for nothing? What if he was leading himself, or more importantly, Magnus to their doom? How could he be so selfish and expect Magnus to go along with everything he wanted to do?  
He tugged on his hair slightly, frustrated. Before they kissed, Alec didn’t care about any of this. Obviously, he cared about Magnus but now all he could think about was their safety, Alec would rather not know if the Oasis was real than have Magnus be hurt in the process. Magnus had already been through enough, he deserved better. 

They were about a day’s walk to where the Ravager territory should be. Neither of them had been there before so they didn’t know its exact location. They only had knives and Alec’s bow, that didn’t even compare to the millions of guns they had. 

Movement next to him caught his attention, Magnus was looking up at him. “What’s wrong, darling?”

Alec sighed, “I’m just overthinking things.”

Magnus patted the space next to him, beckoning for Alec to lay down next to him. “Stop thinking.”

Alec smiled softly, “Easy for you to say.”

“What’s on your mind?” Magnus started to play with his fingers. 

“This whole thing. I don’t what it to be all for nothing. I don’t want to risk you being hurt because of me.”

“Don’t worry about me. You need to do this, I know that if we turn back, the thought that you will never know if your family is at the Oasis will haunt you.”

“But if it’s not, I’ve risked killing us for nothing.”

Magnus shook his head, “No, it is because of you searching for the Oasis that we found each other.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Guess? I am right!”

Alec laughed.

“Tell me about them?”

“Who?”

“Your family.”

“I have two brothers and a sister. My mom found Jace when he was five, his parents were killed by some animal, my mom knew she couldn’t leave him there all defenseless so she adopted him. We were close, he was more trouble than I ever was but he always had my back. I know I don’t have much experience when it comes to other people’s siblings but I know that Izzy is the best sister there is. She was the first person I told I was gay. I was confused about what it all meant and she told me that everything was going to be okay…she would like you.”

“I think I would like her too,” Magnus said quietly.

“Max is the youngest, he was still a young boy the last time I saw him. I helped raise him. My dad disappeared soon after he was born and I helped my mom with him. I don’t know if he even made it out of the attack. I heard him screaming.” Alec started to tear up.

“Hey,” Magnus whispered. “Don’t think like that, there’s still a chance that he made it out.”

Alec didn’t really believe him and he had the feeling that Magnus didn’t either. “I guess.”

Magnus kissed his forehead, “You really should get some sleep.”

Alec nodded and rested his head on his chest, closing his eyes.

***

He watched as the two strangers slept in each other’s arms. He couldn’t make out anything else, not even their genders, it was too dark. That didn’t matter, they were right where he wanted them. He turned to look at the man next to him, “Tell my father that we have a couple of visitors.”


	15. Restrained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad things happen

The desert was rather peaceful, more so than usual. Magnus knew that if the world was normal this would be considered a good thing, but the world wasn’t normal. Something was definitely wrong. He could feel it in his gut. He hoped that he was just being paranoid because they were so close to Ravager territory. It was logical for him to feel that way because of that. 

Alec clearly noticed his distress, “You okay? You look worried.”

“I just can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong here.”

“Why would you feel like that?” The concerned look on his face made Magnus feel giddy inside, Alec didn’t mock him or put him down for being paranoid. He trusted Magnus and never questioned him. He was so lucky to have this man in his life; no other companion would even come close to his Alexander.

“I don’t know,” Magnus eventually replied. “It is almost too quiet. But I could be just a little paranoid, there is no clear indication that we’re in danger.”

Alec put his hand on his shoulder, “I believe you, if you think there’s something wrong about this place, then there must be.”

Magnus smiled with appreciation, “Let’s keep moving.” He grabbed ahold of Alec’s hand, squeezing it slightly. 

***

Alec could feel it too, they were both either being paranoid or they were right and they were in danger. Alec started to wish that they stayed in that forest, at least a little longer. Something in the distance caught his eye, it was hard to see, the sun was making it all distorted. Whatever it was it almost appeared to be moving. “Magnus?”

“I see it,” he said quickly. 

They stayed still for a moment, that was when they started to feel the ground vibrating. What was that thing? It didn’t look like an animal, more like a machine of some sorts. Alec didn’t know if he would be able to identify it even if it was close, he had only heard stories about machinery. 

The feeling of Magnus pulling on his arm made Alec come back from his thoughts. It was time to run. They started sprinting back towards where they came from. Alec knew that they wouldn’t be able to run all the way back to the forest, it was way too far away. However, it was their only shot, that was the only place they could take cover. 

Glancing back, Alec could see the thing gaining on them. There was no way they were going to outrun it. Maybe he could outmaneuver it. “Magnus we won’t be able to make it! We got to try to get past it!” Magnus gave him a quick look that showed his approval. Alec pulled them sharply to the left. He looked back and saw the thing attempting to turn, he was right, the machine couldn’t make sharp turns.   
They weren’t out of the woods yet, however. They still had to outrun it. 

Soon Alec was starting to feel an ache in his legs, he couldn’t take much more of this. They had a pretty good distance on the machine now, with their constant turns. Hopefully they could make it out of sight and hide.

“Fuck!” Magnus exclaimed.

Alec looked back to see what Magnus was talking about. His stomach dropped at the sight. People were jumping out of the machine and running right towards them. It wasn’t just a couple, there was at least twelve people. They were heavily outmatched. 

Alec pulled the bow from over his shoulder and released an arrow which embedded itself right between the eyes of one of their attackers. 

“Keep doing that!” Magnus said.

Alec shot arrow after arrow, he was surprised the amount of people he actually managed to hit. As the number of the oncoming people started to get smaller, the more confident Alec got. They could easily go against them now with their machetes and knives. 

Suddenly, Magnus stopped running. Alec stumbled to stop. Before he could ask Magnus why, he saw it. Right in front of them there was a long line of people, forming a barricade. Alec turned and saw that they were surrounded from all sides.

“There’s no way out,” Alec breathed.

“We have to fight out way through.” Magnus pulled his machete out along with several throwing knives. 

Magnus was right, it was the only way. The line closed in on them. Alec started to shoot at them, but it wouldn’t make a difference, he only had three arrows left, three kills. Once he was out, Magnus tossed him a blade. They stood back to back, ready to fight.

Alec’s hearted beat heavily in his chest, this was madness. It would be a miracle if they would be able to make it out of this alive. As soon as the people were in arm’s reach, Alec started slashing frantically.

***

Magnus never wished that he had magical powers as much as he did at this moment. There were hundreds of Ravagers coming at them. They wouldn’t make it. He slit two Ravager’s throats with one swipe, blood spraying his face. They weren’t attacking, what was their plan? 

Suddenly, the presence of Alec being right behind him disappeared. He whipped around, not caring about his attackers, Alec was being tackled and restrained. “No!” Magnus screamed. He couldn’t lose Alec. Throwing himself at the Ravagers, he grabbed ahold of one’s throat and snapped his neck. He swung his machete with fury. “Leave him alone!”

Before he knew it, he was being pulled to the ground, restraints being put on him as well. Once he was secured, the Ravagers backed away, forming a circle around them. Magnus looked at Alec, his nose was all bloody, clearly, he had been punched. Magnus wiggled towards him. He needed to protect Alec. He couldn’t let anything bad happen to him. When their faces were inches apart, he whispered, “I love you, Alexander. Everything is going to be alright. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

Alec nodded, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you either.”

That was when the rumbling noise came into earshot. Magnus turned his head. It was a huge vehicle, he couldn’t name exactly what it was. They were hauled up and shoved into the machine. Magnus expected to be pushed onto the floor, but instead the Ravagers put them in a seat. When they put Alec across from him, Magnus was tempted to move next to him, but that could risk Alec being killed. He had to be strategic in his next moves, their lives depended on it. 

A blond man stepped in. He grinned at them maniacally. “Hello, my name is Jonathon, but please call me Sebastian, I absolutely despise the other name.”

Both of them stayed silent. 

“You’re lucky that my father is in charge, he gave me order to keep you alive.”

Magnus wanted to ask him why but he knew that that probably wasn’t the smartest decision. However, there must have been a look on his face because Sebastian said, “You two are strong men and you clearly have some skill. Father thought that we could utilize this and have you as slaves instead.” He turned his back to them and opened a compartment of some sort. Magnus tried to move his head so he could see what he was doing, but Sebastian’s body blocked the way. 

When he turned towards them, Magnus noticed that there was a cloth in his hand. Sebastian made his way over to Alec and pressed the cloth to his face. Alec’s wide eyes almost instantly closed and his body went limp. 

Magnus jumped at Sebastian, even though he had no access to his hands which were bound behind his back, “Don’t you touch him!”

Sebastian shoved him to the ground, “I’m not going to hurt your lover. Or you, for that matter. We just need you to be…compliant.”

There was a sharp pain on the back of Magnus’ head before everything went black.


	16. Locked Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec are separated and put into prison cells and are introduced to Valentine

As Magnus opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. He pressed his hand to his head, there was a throbbing bump on it, that son of a bitch must have hit him. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, Magnus took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of cell. The entire room was made out of concrete, at least Magnus amused it was concrete, he had only seen a couple of buildings in his lifetime. There was a door too, it was made of metal and had bars go from the floor to the ceiling. Magnus attempted to get up but felt some resistance around his ankle, he looked down and saw that he was chained to the floor. 

Crawling, Magnus tried to reach the door, hoping the chain was long enough. He was at least three feet away when the chain started to pull at him. He thrashed around, trying to make it. There was no use, the chain was not going to budge. Magnus crawled to the corner of the room. The cuff was now bloody since it had chafed Magnus during the struggle. 

Where’s Alec? He tried to move his head so he could see though the bars of the door, and even though he managed to do this, there wasn’t anything to see, only a wall. “Alexander!” he called out, hoping that Alec was in a room next to him. There was no reply, if he was nearby, he couldn’t hear him. 

That was when Magnus saw the dark, crimson color at the opposite corner. It was dried blood, someone was beaten here. Feeling scared for himself and Alec, Magnus brought his knees to his chest, trying to calm himself down. Sebastian said that they were going to be made into slaves. That meant that they had to be alive. He also said that he wasn’t going to hurt them, but then again, there was nothing sane about that man. 

***

Alec woke up on a hard floor. His body felt light and he had trouble thinking at first.

“I see that the drugs have finally worn out,” said an unfamiliar voice. Alec quickly turned at the source of the sound and saw a man in front on him, he was bald and wore all black. However, all Alec could focus on was the circle on his neck. 

“Who the hell are you?” he spat.

“My name is Valentine Morgenstern. You met my son, Sebastian earlier.”

Anger ran through Alec’s body, this was the leader of the Ravagers. This man attacked his family! This man is the reason he got separated from them! Alec tried to launch himself at him but was pulled backwards, he looked at saw that he was chained.

Valentine laughed, “You really think that I would be in here without taking any precautions? I thought you were smarter than that.”  
“What do you want from me?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Nothing much, I only want you to help out around here, like clean up after my men, dispose of bodies, that stuff.” 

Alec tried to pull against the chain, hoping that it would break from the wall, it was no use. If only Magnus was here, he would know what to do. “Where’s Magnus?”

“I’m assuming that Magnus is the other man that you arrived with, he’s fine and will stay that way if he’s complies with me.”  
“You’re not going to get away with this.”

Valentine laughed as if Alec told a really good joke, “I’ve done this hundreds of times! What makes you think that you’re any special. I have gotten away with it for years and will keep getting away with it until I die!”

“That’s sooner than you think.”

Valentine smiled, “I like you, you got guts, maybe one day I’ll make a soldier out of you.”

Alec rolled his eyes, as if he would ever join the Ravagers. 

“I know, you think that now, but, what if I tell you that your friend’s life depended on it.”

Alec opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Was he already torturing Magnus? 

“I meant that hypothetically, he’s fine…at least for now.”

Suddenly, there was the faint sound of someone yelling. It was very muffled but Alec knew exactly who is was, Magnus. It sounded like he was calling out to Alec. Alec opened his mouth to call back when Valentine ran at him, covering is mouth. “If you know what’s best for him, you’ll keep quiet. He has a strong will, stronger than yours perhaps, and he may need a little breaking. Got it?”

Alec nodded. As soon as he did, Valentine uncovered his mouth. “Go to hell.”

Valentine laughed, “We’re already here.” He turned to the single door and opened it. As he exited, a redhead walked in, she had a tray with some sort of meat and some water on it. 

“This is my daughter, Clarissa. She will be taking care of you.”

Clarissa gave Alec a small smile before putting the tray in front of him. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she glanced at her father and that look disappeared. Almost immediately, she turned and exited.

There was a part of Alec that wished he would have taken her hostage but there was no point to that. He would still be chained to the wall and Magnus would have to suffer the consequences. Although ever fiber of his being wanted to push the food away, he felt his stomach rumble and he gave in.

***

Magnus soon heard footsteps, he stood up, finding it awkward with the chain. He had to be on the defensive side. Who knows what sick, twisted things they would do to him?

It was a bald man with a circle on his neck. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I am Valentine Morgenstern, you met my son Sebastian earlier.” When Magnus didn’t reply he carried on. “From this point on you belong to me, you are going to be my slave. You will start out by cleaning up after us, and maybe eventually you will become one of us.”

Magnus almost laughed at that, “I might have to take a raincheck on that one.”

Valentine smirked, “You think that now, but if I told you that your friend’s life depended on it.”

Magnus’ stomach churned, what did they do to Alec? 

“I’m speaking hypothetically, of course. At least for now. Your friend has a strong will, even stronger than yours, perhaps. He might need a little breaking.”

“I swear if you touch him-!” 

“Relax, he will be okay, as long as you both behave,” Valentine then turned to leave. A small redheaded girl appeared, “This is Clarissa, she is my daughter and will be taking care of you.” With that, Valentine disappeared.

Clarissa walked over to Magnus with a tray that made meat and a cup of water on it. As she set it down she said quietly, “Call me Clary.” Looking at Magnus, she added, “He’s fine, my father won’t hurt him unless he does something stupid. He’s at the opposite end of the hall. He could hear you but my father covered his mouth so he couldn’t call back.” She glanced back at the door, “I’ll be back. You’re going to fine, I promise, Magnus.”

Dumbfounded, Magnus watched as the girl left. Maybe they had a shot of getting out of here after all.


	17. Torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian taunts Alec and Valentine forces to him to make a decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter has some language and some torture...kinda, you'll see what I mean

Alec couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about Magnus. He needed to see him. How did he know that Valentine was telling him the truth? What stopped him from beating up Magnus. They wouldn’t make it fair fight, they’d probably restrict him so he couldn’t defend himself. 

Turning onto his other side, Alec let out a sigh. He was cold and scared. If Magnus were with him he couldn’t feel this way, no, when Magnus was around he knew he was safe. Wherever Magnus was, Alec knew that he was not worrying about his own safety. Magnus would be worrying about him. 

***

Magnus didn’t even bother attempting to sleep, he knew he wouldn’t be able to until he thought of a plan to get out of here. They wouldn’t take him out of the cell unless it was an emergency. Either something bad had to happen to him or something bad had to happen in his vicinity. If he injured himself, Valentine would know that he did it on purpose. 

He repeated this process again and again. An idea would pop into his head an immediately get shot down. Everything he could possibly do was putting his Alexander at risk. 

 

Days passed, Magnus couldn’t say how many, he hadn’t bothered to keep track in the first place. He barely slept and barely ate. He wasn’t hungry and when he tried to sleep, all he could see was Alec being tortured. 

He had a visit from Sebastian one of the days, he didn’t come in. He just taunted Magnus through the barred doors. Magnus didn’t acknowledge him. Sebastian grew angry at this and eventually spat at him before storming off. 

Magnus was left alone for a few days after that. The only human contact he had was when one of the Ravagers brought him his tray. Magnus was used to being alone, he had done it for most of his life, except this time was different. This time it hurt. 

***

Alec knew that he was feeding into Sebastian’s taunting, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help but snap at him every once in awhile and pacing around for hours once he left. Every time Sebastian came, Alec seriously was worried that he was going to tell him that Magnus died. He wouldn’t put it past Sebastian to do something like that. 

He woke up one morning to banging. Opening his eyes, he saw Sebastian punching the door, making his hands all bloody. “Wake up!”

“What the hell do you want?” Alec growled. 

“Just making sure you don’t miss out on the show.”

The way he said that made Alec’s stomach drop. “What show?”

He grinned, “It should start anytime now.”

Almost as soon as he said that, Alec heard a bang and a yell. He couldn’t be sure but it almost sounded like Magnus. He looked at Sebastian, whose smile somehow grew even bigger. There was another sound, almost like a whip, followed by a scream. 

Horror spread through Alec’s body, there was no question in his mind that that was Magnus screaming. He ran at Sebastian, forgetting about the chain around his ankle, causing him to fall onto his face. Sebastian laughed hysterically. 

“Leave him alone! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“He hadn’t been eating his meals, so he must pay the price.”

“That’s fucking ridiculous! He didn’t do anything.”

There was a loud crash followed by silence. Alec couldn’t believe it, but he was actually hoping that he would have heard something. It would have been confirmation that Magnus was still alive. 

“Oh, looks like the poor guy couldn’t handle it. No matter,” Sebastian stretched his arms over his head. “When he wakes up we’ll start again.” With that, he left.

“No!” Alec screamed. “You come back here! Don’t you dare touch him! I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you!” Alec fell to his knees, sobbing. How could anyone be so cruel? How could anyone hurt one of the kindest people to ever walk the earth? Magnus didn’t do anything wrong. Just because he wasn’t eating…that was when Alec realized, Magnus probably wasn’t eating because he was worrying. This was all Alec’s fault, it was his fault they got here in the first place and now it was his fault that Magnus was being tortured. Alec continued to sob, even when his head was starting to hurt and his eyes felt tired. 

He eventually heard footsteps coming towards his cell. He wiped his tears away, not wanting to give Sebastian the satisfaction. However, the person was Valentine. “I see that you’re quite upset about what happened earlier.”

Alec opened his mouth to snap at him but before he could do anything, Valentine cut him off. “There is a way you can stop it from happening again.”  
“How?”

Valentine grinned, “Agree to join me right now.”

***

Magnus leaned against the wall, eating the tasteless food even though he felt sick to his stomach. Valentine came in and told him that he had to fake being hurt because they wanted to convince Alec to join them. At first Magnus looked at him like he was crazy, but then Valentine told him that they would hurt Alec if he didn’t do what they said. 

In the end he had no choice, he had to scream and yell. Once Valentine thanked him for cooperating, Magnus felt hollow, like he had just betrayed the person he loved. It was because of him, Alec thought that he was being tortured. He closed his eyes as tears started to run down his cheeks.

***

“Well, what do you say?” Valentine asked.

“I’ll join you.”


	18. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help comes from an unexpected source

Magnus faced the wall so his back was turned to the door. He didn’t even want to look at Valentine. How could someone ever think it was okay to emotionally manipulate someone? Sebastian kept walking by, each time reminding him that Alec had agreed to join them, and sooner or later, Alec would forget about him. Magnus knew that that part wasn’t true. Alec was a kind soul and he wouldn’t throw away what he and Magnus had just like that. However, that didn’t make the situation suck any less.

***

It was hard to tell what time of day it was in the cell since there was no windows, the building only went dark every once in a while, but Alec guessed that it was about a day later Valentine waltzed into his cell and told him it was time to get to work. As the man bent down to unlock the cuff around Alec’s ankle, he reminded Alec that the moment he started to act up, Magnus would face the consequences. He then informed Alec that Magnus finally woke up after being knocked unconscious. Alec held back his urge to punch Valentine. 

“Come on,” Valentine beckoned with his gun. “We have a lot of cleaning up for you to do.” Valentine led Alec down the corridor, there was a small part in Alec that was hopeful that he might catch a glimpse of Magnus, they were heading in his direction. Valentine abruptly stopped and pointed to a cell, “Get in.”

Alec did what he was told, his stomach was sickened by what he saw: there was blood all over the floor. “Wha-what happened here?”

Valentine grinned, “This is your lover’s cell. Yeah…Malachi got a bit carried away, oh well. It got you to listen, didn’t it?”

Alec clenched his fists, trying to calm himself down, he knew that the minute he went to attack Valentine, he would likely be killed and so would Magnus. 

A man walked in with a bucket of water and some cloths. He shoved the items into Alec’s hand and walked off. 

“Make this floor spotless, knock on the bars when you’re done,” with that, Valentine locked him in. 

 

As Alec scrubbed the floor, he had to constantly wipe the stray tears that escaped. This wasn’t right. He should be with the man he loved, not cleaning up his blood. It’s all your fault, he told himself. The Oasis isn’t even real and it’s because of your imagination, Magnus is gone.

By the time the floor was cleaned, Alec felt completely numb. He stared ahead as he rattled the bars on the door. He could barely comprehend what Valentine was telling him. He knew that he should probably be listening to his orders but he found that he didn’t care. He had given up. 

For the next few hours he just cleaned the hallways while being supervised by the man he assumed was Malachi. Then, he was escorted back to his cell, chained back up and given his meal. It was bigger and looked more appetizing than usual, he was told that he was being rewarded with better food because of his work. Alec didn’t know if it was just him, but it was tasteless.

Soon, he grew tired and fell asleep, curled up in the corner. Before he fell into a dreamless sleep, he was haunted by the images of him and Magnus together. 

***

Magnus woke up the sound of a voice. He opened his eyes and could make out a figure by the door. He squinted, trying to get a better look.

“Magnus,” said the hushed voice. “It’s Clary. I’ve got the keys, I’m going to let you see Alec.” She slowly opened the door, careful not to make a sound. She then soundlessly hurried over to Magnus and unlocked the cuff. 

“Why can’t you help us escape? You have the keys.”

“It’s not safe yet. We have to wait until the right moment. Come on, we don’t have much time,” she pulled at his arm.

“Wait, why should I trust you?”

“I know that it’s hard to trust me, but believe me, I think my father is a monster. I can’t stand what he does, so I made it a goal of mine to help out people like you whenever I can. Right now, Alec needs you, he’s not doing so good.”

“What do you mean?”

“My father made him clean up some blood today, and he told him that it was yours,” she said quickly. “Come on, we are wasting time.”

Magnus followed her through the hallway, it wasn’t long before they stopped at a cell. Magnus could make out someone curled up in the corner. 

Clary unlocked the door and opened it. “I’ll come back when it’s time to bring you back.”

“Thank you,” Magnus said. 

Through the darkness, Magnus could detect a smile. He made his way over to Alec and knelt next to him and ran his hand through his hair. He kissed his temple, whispering, “Wake up, darling.”

Alec jumped awake, clearly alarmed. Before he could call out, Magnus pulled him into his arms, “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

“Magnus?” Alec asked hoarsely. 

“I’m here.”

Magnus felt Alec let out a sob. “They told me that you were beaten and that you were knocked unconscious, and I had to clean up your blood!”

“Shh,” Magnus soothed. “They lied to you. They never touched me.”

“But…the screaming.” 

Guilt washed over Magnus, “They told me that they would hurt you if I didn’t do it. I’m so sorry, Alexander.”

Alec looked up and him and crashed their lips together. “I don’t care about that,” Alec said between kisses. “You’re okay, that’s all that matters.”

Their kisses started to grow more heated, and Alec started to tug at his shirt, as he kissed down his neck. Magnus pulled away, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I don’t think this is the right time.”  
Alec nodded and buried his face in his shoulder, “I know…I just missed you.”

Magnus leaned against the wall, holding Alec close. He told Alec about Clary and how she was helping them.

“Do you trust her?” Alec asked quietly.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then I trust her too.” His voice turned bitter, “You have better judgement than me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was stupid enough to believe that we could do this.”

“Hey,” Magnus scolded. “Don’t be like that. We could have done it, we just had some bad luck.”

“This is all my fault, Magnus!”

Magnus cupped his face, “Don’t you dare say that! This is no one’s fault, not mine, especially not yours.”

Alec was silent. 

“We’re going to make it out of this.”

“I love you,” Alec breathed.

Magnus held him tighter, “I love you too.”

They soon fell asleep, and it was the best sleep Magnus had in a long time.


	19. Working

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus starts working with Valentine

Magnus woke up to someone gently shaking his shoulder, “Magnus, it’s time to go.” Blinking, he looked up and saw Clary in the darkness. He glanced down at Alexander who was curled up against him, sleeping soundly. 

“I know that it’s hard but you have to go. My father or brother will be doing their rounds soon.”

Magnus woke up Alec. He lifted Alec’s chin towards him and kissed him. “I have to go, darling.”

Alec nodded, closing his eyes. “I know you do, that doesn’t mean that I want you to.”

“I know. I promise I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Magnus stood up and exited the cell. Clary locked it before leading him back to his own. As Magnus entered, Clary asked, “How long have you two known each other?”

Magnus tried to think, but he honestly didn’t know. It was hard for him to keep time. “I don’t really know for sure, I would say a couple months.”

“It seems like much longer than that.”

Magnus couldn’t help but agree. Alec had only been in his life for a period of time but he felt as if he had known him forever. 

“How did you meet?” Clary cuffed Magnus’ ankle.

“I saved him from the acid rain,” Magnus smiled to himself. “It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Clary smiled, “I’ve never seen anyone as in love as you two are.” She was locking the door when there was the sound of a door shutting. “I have to go!” She sprinted away, Magnus was kind of impressed by how soundless her footsteps were.

***

Alec was so happy that Magnus was okay. He was going to be forever grateful to Clary, without her, he would have still thought that Magnus was being beaten. Even though Magnus had left, he still had a smile on his face. He felt refreshed and better than he has in a long time. When Clary gave him his morning meal, he ate it all, actually being able to taste it this time. However, he knew that he had to drop his good mood as soon as Valentine appeared. If Valentine saw he was happy, he would know something was up. 

As Valentine led him down the hall, Alec made sure that he dragged his feet and watched the ground. “When can I see Magnus?” he asked. 

Valentine shrugged, “Who knows? He’s in our infirmary at the moment. He refused to join us so Malachi had a bit of fun with him.”

“Please don’t hurt him!” he begged. After he said this, Alec was tempted to laugh, who knew acting was so much fun?

Valentine looked at him, “I’ll see what I can do, but you have to be a good little soldier and do what I say.”

Alec nodded, “I’ll do anything, just please don’t hurt him.”

It turns out that Valentine brought him back to the cell he had to clean up yesterday. Once again there was blood on the floor, a little less than last time. Alec couldn’t help but wonder whose blood it was, since he now knew it wasn’t Magnus’. However, to keep his little act going, he let out a gasp and covered his mouth. 

Valentine put his hand on his shoulder, “Yes, I know, it’s quite horrific, but I always keep my promises. I’ll make sure that your little lover isn’t harmed anymore. Now clean.”

Alec got on his hands and knees and started scrubbing at the floor, making sure his back was to the door. When Valentine left, Alec smiled.

***

Days had passed since he had last saw Alexander, Magnus was growing restless. He knew that it was risky for Clary to do this and that is why she didn’t sneak him out every night. Still, that didn’t stop every fiber of his being from wanting him. He knew that if he wasn’t chained up, he would have been pacing around the room. 

Valentine appeared, “I think it’s time for you to join us, don’t you?” 

Magnus opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. That was when he saw Clary behind him, giving a small nod. 

“If I do, do you promise not to hurt him?”

Valentine nodded, “Given that you obey me, yes.”

“I’ll do it.”

Valentine opened up the door and made his way over to Magnus, “You’re going to do some work for me. If you do it correctly I’ll let you visit with him.”

Magnus heart skipped a beat, he wanted nothing more than this. However, this is Valentine, there’s probably some sort of catch. In the end, Magnus replied, “Okay,” because he knew that there was no point in fighting. 

The day was spent cleaning up the floors, he changed some of the beds in an area of the compound he had never seen before. He also skinned some animals. As much as he hated being forced to do work, it was nice to get out of his cell and being able to walk around. 

“Good job on your first day. Now it’s time for your reward.” Valentine led him through yet another corridor. As they rounded the corner Magnus saw Alec. He looked at Valentine who gave him an exasperated nod. That was all Magnus needed. He ran towards Alec and wrapped his arms around him. Alec jumped but then melted into his embrace. “Hi, darling,” Magnus whispered. “You’ll have to act like you haven’t seen me.”

“I love you,” Alec pulled away and exclaimed, “Magnus! You’re okay.”

Magnus was rather impressed how convincing Alec was. “Of course, I am,” he replied.

“I’d hate to break up this moment, but visiting time is over,” Sebastian said. 

Magnus had to bite his tongue, now that was just cruel, letting them finally see each other but only for a few seconds. Alec squeezed his hand reassuringly, they would be together soon. Magnus kissed his cheek and followed Sebastian back to his cell, where he was once away chained to the wall.

That night, as he was trying to sleep, Clary appeared, “Tonight’s the night. You’re getting out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the climax approaches


	20. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec escape from Valentine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this came out later than what I wanted
> 
> We are getting close to the end, I don't know exactly how many chapters are left, but this will end sooner rather than later. 
> 
> Also, this fic is now 50 pages long :)

Magnus shot up, “How are we going to escape?”

Clary unlocked the cell door and crouched in front of him. As she took the chain off him she said, “My father is having a mandatory meeting with all personnel. My brother and all the guards will be at that meeting.”

“But what will they do when they find out we’re gone?”

“You’ll be long gone before then.”

“What about you? Valentine is going to know that it was you that helped us.”

Clary laughed, “No, he won’t. You want to know why I wasn’t allowed at that meeting? Because he sees me as this little girl who can’t do any actual work. Believe me when I say that he’s more likely to think that Sebastian is the one that let you out.”

“Are there other people not at that meeting?”

“Hundreds, but don’t worry they’re all in a different building and it’s almost impossible for them to be here.” She exits the cell, looking both ways down the corridor before saying, “Come on, we have no time to waste.”

They hurried down the hallway to Alec’s cell. Magnus could make out his curled-up shape against the wall. He couldn’t help but smile, Alec was so adorable. 

Clary unlocked the door, and shook Alec awake. “We’re leaving.” 

Still half-asleep, Alec walked over to Magnus and leaned against him. Magnus chuckled and ruffled his hair. Clary told them to wait as she ran down the hallway, making sure the coast was clear.

“How do you feel about this?” Alec asked.

“I believe her, she’s been nothing but helpful. Why? Did she do anything to make you feel otherwise?”

Alec shook his head, “No, but this whole thing is a little too good to be true.”

Magnus understood where he was coming from. Clary really was just some stranger to them. What gain did she have from helping them? Practically nothing. At most to would just be defying her father. Then again, she has already done so much for them and she was also their only chance of getting out of here alive. Magnus reached over and squeezed his hand, “No matter what happens, we’ll make it through…together.”

“I love you,” Alec breathed, looking at Magnus with nothing short of adoration.

“I love you too.”

Suddenly they heard the rumbling of a machine. Simultaneously, they turned towards where Clary ran off to. Light started to fill the dark corridor. Clary opened some sort of door. They saw her silhouette being lit up, she waved her hand. They jogged towards her. “That was the hardest part. Here.” She lifted up her shirt slightly to reveal a utility belt, two pistols were strapped to it. She handed one to each of them. “I have some food and canteens of water hidden by the exit.” 

Magnus was glad that she was there to guide them, there was no way he would have been able to navigate all of these hallways. Soon, they saw a singular door, once Clary opened it, Magnus breathed in the evening air. He didn’t realize how much he missed fresh air until now. 

Clary moved some boxes, revealing the backpack. She handed it to Alec and said, “Good luck.”

Magnus hugged her, “Thank you, so much.”

Before she could reply, there was a loud screeching siren, followed by a flashing red light. “Shit! They know that you’re gone! Go, I’ll buy you some time!”

Magnus had never been as happy with a gun as he was now. They started to sprint into the desert, where the land was flat for miles. There was no where to hide. “We have to keep going!” Alec cried out.   
It was almost like déjà vu. They were running and running with no intention on stopping. Magnus knew that this was going to be like the first time, they were going to have to face the Ravagers at some point. “Alec,” he began.

“No! We are not going to stop! They’ll kill one of us and make the other their own personal slave! I cannot live without you Magnus! I’d rather die than live without you! I can’t lose you! I can’t!” Tears were streaming down his face, mixing with sweat. 

Magnus stopped. Alec yelled out, trying to pull him along, “Come on, Magnus! Please! You have to!” He started sobbing as he pleaded. Magnus cupped his face, “Alexander, we will keep going, I promise. But you must know that we’ll have to face them sometime tonight.”

Alec croaked, “I know. I just can’t.”

“Me too.” He kissed his forehead. “Come on.”

They went as fast as they could but considering the fact that they had already been running for some time now, their run was closer to a jog. 

***

Eventually the Ravager’s headquarters was out of sight, Alec began to wonder if they actually managed to get away. When he heard the sound of the vehicle he heard when they were taken, Alec was glad he didn’t have his hopes up. His legs were burning, they would be surrounded soon. 

“Magnus,” he gasped, still winded from all the running.

“No matter what happens, I’ll always love you. We’re going to be okay, love.”

The vehicle was soon upon them. That was when they finally stopped running. Sebastian stepped out of the vehicle, laughing. Two other Ravagers stepped out, one of which was the driver. 

“You really thought that you could get away?” Sebastian laughed. “Such a pity. You never had a chance. Now, we’re going to take you back home, and you’ll have to face the consequences of your actions tonight.” He took a step towards them. “On second thought, I think you should begin your lesson now.”

Suddenly, Alec was grabbed by the two Ravagers. He tried to struggle against them but it was no use. The one to his left took his gun and pocketed it. The other grabbed him by the back of his head and forced him to watch Sebastian, who was making his way over to Magnus. He pulled something out of his pocket, a blade. 

“No!”

Sebastian laughed, “Begging will get you nowhere! Because of you, your little lover will die slowly.”

Alec struggled again, he had to stop him. The Ravagers tightened their grip on him. 

“And you,” Sebastian turned to him. “You’re going to watch every second of it.” Sebastian thrusts his blade towards Magnus, causing him to flinch. Sebastian laughs again, “Let’s have some fun.” Then he stabbed Magnus in the arm. 

Alec felt like he was going to throw up when he heard Magnus scream. Sebastian took out the knife and slashed Magnus’ cheek. 

If he was asked about what happened next, Alec wouldn’t be able to say. It all happened so quickly. The next thing Alec knew, he stomped on one of the Ravager’s feet, causing the grip on him to loosen. He elbowed the other in the face, knocking him out instantly. Alec took the gun out of his pocket and shot the remaining Ravager. Then he turned to Sebastian, who was frozen with shock and shot him again and again. He didn’t know how many shots he had fired, he kept shooting at Sebastian even after he had fallen onto the ground, dead.

Magnus calling out his name was what brought him out of his daze. He dropped the gun and turned to Magnus, who was clutching his bleeding arm. Alec ran over to him and practically tackled him. 

“Magnus-“ he began.

“I’m okay, nothing I can’t fix.” 

Alec kissed him, it wasn’t a kiss of passion or even affection, just one of relief.

“We did it,” Magnus said. “He’s dead.”


	21. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some Malec fluff because they deserve it

They didn’t bury Sebastian. He deserved to rot in that desert, to be eaten by whatever went his way. As they walked, Alec kept all of his attention on Magnus, his arm was still bleeding, however, the bleeding had slowed. Every once in a while, Magnus would wince and Alec would immediately stop. 

“I’m fine, Alexander. I can keep going.”

Alec opened his mouth. He knew Magnus, he would try to make out he was okay even if his leg had been chopped off. However, before Alec could say anything, Magnus beat him to it. “I promise I’ll tell you if things get too much.”

Alec smiled, “How did you know that was what I was going to say?”

Magnus grinned and kissed his lips, “I can read you like an open book.”

“Do you think there will be books at the Oasis?”

“I hope so, I’ve only ever read one once. It wasn’t that good either, maybe that was because had never read anything before and my mom helped me with her limited knowledge.”

“Do you know what I really want to see?”

“A cow?”

Alec felt rather giddy at the fact that Magnus remembered that conversation they had a long time ago. The fact that anyone cared enough about him to remember unimportant conversations they had made Alec feel warm on the inside. 

“Do you think if the world never ended we would have still met?” Alec asked.

“I’d like to think that. That the world would always find a way to bring us together.”

Alec reached out and held onto Magnus’ good hand. “I hope that’s true because I would never meet someone as amazing as you.”

***

They weren’t able to find any patches of trees by the time night fell, so they just found a relatively nice-looking patch of sand to camp out on. They then looked through the backpacks Clary gave them. It was full of a lot more supplies than expected. It had the necessities such as food, clothing and water but also had a lighter, and a med kit. Magnus smiled, he was going to be forever in debt to Clary. He opened the kit and found a needle and thread, perfect for making stitches. There was also a bottle of alcohol to clean the wound. 

“Those Ravagers are some lucky bastards,” Alec said between his sips of water.

Magnus, “I bet they have so much they don’t even know that these kits are missing.” He opened the bottle and pour a little bit of the alcohol down his arm. It stung, almost like his skin was on fire. He felt Alec put his hand on his thigh, reassuringly. 

With a steady hand, Magnus took the needle and attached the thread to it. Slowly but surely, he closed up the stab wound, cutting the remaining thread with his knife. He looked through the kit once more and found antibiotics, he debated on whether or not he should take one now, but in the end decided that he would just wait and see. 

They then helped themselves to some of the food Clary provided. They ate the fresh fruits and vegetables because those would go back first. 

When the stars came out, they laid next to each other, looking up. “How far are we?” Magnus asked.

“I think within a few days we will be there…if it is there that is.”

“Alexander! When did you start to be so pessimistic?” 

“I’ve always been like that, but I guess I feel more hopeful when I’m with you.”

Magnus smiled and turned towards Alec, scooting closer to him. “I love you,” he breathed. 

“Magnus,” Alec gazed at his lips. 

Magnus closed the distance between them. Their kisses were rough and needy. In one smooth move, Magnus threw his leg over Alec, straddling him. “You’re. Wearing. Too. Many. Clothes,” he said between kisses. 

Alec leaned away and pulled off his shirt, it getting caught on his head. Magnus laughed and helped him get it off. 

“Shut up!” Alec pouted.

Magnus couldn’t stop laughing, he was laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face. 

“It’s not funny!” Alec said, starting to laugh as well.

“No,” Magnus wiped his face. “Not funny at all.”

“Shut up,” Alec said as he grabbed ahold of the front of his shirt and pulled Magnus to him. 

 

Magnus didn’t know it could be like this. With Camille there was no laughter when it came to sex. With Alec, he felt like he could be himself. He could laugh at little things and Alec couldn’t get mad, no, he would just laugh with him. Alec would look at him with the most adoring look and try to keep them as close as physically possible. He would tell Magnus that he loved him as he had his face buried in his neck. His touch was gentle as he ran his hands down Magnus’ back. Magnus had never felt closer to anyone before. 

Magnus said nothing as he got off Alec and laid next to him, his hand reaching for him. Alec kissed his palm. 

As they fell asleep, Magnus realized it was one of the first times in awhile he felt like everything was going to be okay.


	22. Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec finally reach the Oasis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really short because it's setting up the next chapter
> 
> We're almost done with this story, only 2 or 3 chapters left

Magnus woke up with the boiling sun on his face. Normally that would annoy him, but today was different. He was in such a great mood this morning, the constant fear of being attacked was gone, which Magnus knew was a bit foolish, just because Sebastian was dead it didn’t mean there were no more Ravagers, or no more random people they could come across. He reached out towards Alec, the backs of his fingers rubbing against Alec’s jaw. 

Even though his eyes were closed, Alec smiled. “Morning,” he rasped. 

“You thirsty?”

Alec nodded, “My mouth feels like this desert.”

Magnus reached over to their backpacks and took out the canteens. He handed one to Alec. “You’re in a good mood today,” he commented. 

Magnus shrugged, “I guess I’m just happy that we’re free. To be quite honest, I feel rather invincible.”

Alec snorted and rolled his eyes, “Please don’t tell me you actually think you’re invincible.”

“Of course not! I’m not crazy.”

Alec smiled and held onto his hand, “We’re almost there. I hope that it actually is there after all the shit we’ve gone through.”

Magnus squeezed his hand. He agreed with Alec, if the Oasis didn’t exist, that meant that they had been tortured by the Ravagers for nothing. Then the would have to make it back to the little patch of forest they had found, and even that was a risk. Valentine was still alive, and the Ravagers still existed, if they were captured again they wouldn’t be given a second chance, no, they would be killed on the spot. “We can always head back to that forest.” 

Alec nodded and smiled softly, “Is it bad that I’m excited? I don’t even know what’s going to be there, if my family is there.”

“Even if this is all for nothing, we have each other.”

They had walked for two whole days, if was almost as if they had never been captured. They resumed their routine, walk the entire day, eat and drink as they walked. At night they would find a nice place to settle for the night, eat and drink some more, then sleep. 

However, when night fell one the third day, when Magnus found a nice little place to settle, Alec kept on walking. 

“Alexander? Is everything all right?”

He turned to Magnus with a huge smile on his face, he pointed at the stars, “It’s here, Magnus! See that hill? It’s on the other side!” Alec could barely keep still. “Come on!” 

Magnus pushed himself up and quickly walked over to Alec. Alec took his hand and started to run towards the hill. His excitement was contagious. As they ran towards it, they were both laughing. This was it, they were going to find their new home. Magnus no longer was worried that all of this was just some made up place, he could feel it deep inside, this was real. They were going to find Alec’s family and they were going to live in a place where they no longer had to worry about fighting for their lives or scrounging for food. They were going to live in a paradise. 

Magnus didn’t even care that he was running up a sand dune, that with every step his foot slipped down just a little. Everything they had gone through together was going to be worth it. They reached the top of the hill and slid down it. The little valley of flat land was visible through the bright moonlight. 

They stared ahead at the Oasis. When they made eye contact, they both had the same expression, shock. “What?” Alec said. 

He fell onto his knees and covered his mouth with his hand, that was when he let out a pained scream. Magnus felt himself tearing up. This was worse than he could ever expect. The Oasis wasn’t there, there was nothing but sand that went on for miles and a valley of skeletons.


	23. The Ladder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distressed, Alec goes on a walk

“Alexander,” Magnus said. Alec didn’t look at him. He wasn’t looking anywhere, really, he had a blank expression on his face and a gaze that went on for miles. Magnus went over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. Alec jerked back, “Please, Magnus, not now. Please don’t touch me.” 

Magnus took his hand away, “Okay.” He sat down next to him. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know. I thought there would at least be something here, at least some trees or even a little pond or something. That man looked so healthy and he was seemed so genuine when he talked about how he was here and how amazing it all it. I guess I was being stupid. Maybe I deserve losing my family. I’m useless.”

“Alexander, you’re far from useless! Without you, I wouldn’t be here!”

“You had to save me first.”

“Who saved who first doesn’t matter! You saved me from that creature in the desert and you saved me from Sebastian! I would be dead if you weren’t here.”

“If I weren’t here you never would have left your home,” he said, looking at his feet. 

“Stop that! Never mind how we got here! I met someone who is kind and treats me better than I have ever been treated. I fell in love and I sure as hell don’t have any regrets about that!”

Alec shrugged, “I guess.” He looked towards the hundreds of skeletons in front of them. “There must have been something here at one point, how else could there be so many bodies.”

“Maybe the Oasis was here and something happened that caused them to all die here.”

“Do you think my family is there?” Alec said in a hushed voice, almost as if he were afraid if he spoke too loudly it’ll come true. 

“I don’t know,” Magnus said. He couldn’t lie to Alec, there was no way they could ever know for sure that they were not among those skeletons. 

Alec got up, with his hands on his head, “I’m going to take a walk, I won’t be gone too long.” 

Magnus knew that it was best for Alec to clear his head. There was nothing he could do to help him.

***

Alec felt so overwhelmed, he didn’t know how to calm himself down. All he knew was that he had to get away. He knew Magnus understood and wouldn’t be hurt by the fact that he just wanted to be alone. He felt angry at everything, angry at that man who told him about this place, angry at the world for being so damn terrible and angry at himself for thinking that in this literal hell called earth, there could even be a remotely safe area. 

He kicked at the sand, sending up in a cloud, he was disappointed at the fact that he got no satisfaction from it. He went on, kicking the sand and the little rocks that were around. The rocks were best to kick, as least he could see where it went off to. He jogged after one of the rocks he kicked to kick it again. As it landed again, Alec heard a clanging noise. 

That’s odd, Alec thought to himself. He cautiously went over to the rock, there was nothing there except sand. Alec knelt down and started to dig, it turns out that the layer of sand was very shallow. As he brushed it away he uncovered something metal. Once he cleared more away, he saw a handle. Alec’s heart pounded with excitement. Was this what it looked like? 

Magnus needed to see this.

***

“Magnus!” he heard Alec yelling.

He had never stood up so fast before. What happened? Did Alec run into trouble? He saw him running towards him. 

“What’s wrong!” he called out.

“You got to see this!” Alec waved him over. “Come on!”

There was excitement in his voice. What did Alec find? Magnus ran towards him, before he could even reach him, Alec ran to the direction he came from. 

When Alec came to a stop, Magnus was confused, there was literally nothing there. However, as he got closer he saw it, it looked like a metal door. “Have you opened it?” he asked.

“No, I wanted you to be here. Should I open it?”

Magnus nodded. Alec pulled the hatch open, revealing a ladder. 

“Down?” Alec asked.

“Down.”

They went down the ladder, at the bottom there was a dimly lit tunnel. They walked towards the source of light, staying close, their guns out. 

When they exited the tunnel, Alec gasped. Magnus covered him mouth. All around them there were houses and trees and people walking around like it was any other day. They looked healthy and were clean. Off into the distance they could see a farm. 

“Magnus, we made it!” Alec exclaimed as he pulled Magnus into a kiss. 

“We made it!” There was still a question that was waiting to be asked: Why were there skeletons above the Oasis?


	24. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec meet people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is the last full chapter, I'm going to be doing an epilogue that will come out next Monday! Thank you for reading, it really makes my day knowing that people have read my work. After this fic is complete I will at some point post a soulmate AU one-shot, my best friend came up with the idea and I asked if her if I could write it with Malec and she's amazing and said yes. I'll put the summary in the notes of the epilogue.

They stood there in silence, admiring the view. The city was truly breathtaking. Magnus looked off into the distance and saw an animal grazing on the grass, “Alec, I think that’s a cow.”

Alec excitedly grabbed at his arm and looked, “Really! I can’t wait to see it up close! They look so cute!” Magnus laughed, Alec was so adorable. “Where do we go? We should probably make our presense known, or they might think that we’re Ravagers.”

“Good idea,” Alec replied with the biggest grin on his face.

They made their way down the hill towards the buildings, looking for anyone that could help them. Surprisingly, there weren’t any people around, despite seeing them walking around when they were on the hill. 

“Is it just me or this place kind of creepy?”

“Maybe they saw us coming and are being cautious.”

Magnus couldn’t argue with that, if some stranger entered his home he would be nervous too.

They rounded a corner, no one was there. “Where are we supposed to go? How are we supposed to declare ourselves as friendly when there’s no one here?”

As soon as those words escaped Magnus’ lips he heard the sound of a gun loading. He felt the metal being pressed to the back of his head. “I’m the one who decides who’s friendly and who isn’t. Now, answer me honestly, what are your names and are you Ravagers?” It was a woman’s voice, and Magnus could tell by the way she was talking that she was very confident in her abilities.

Magnus looked at Alec who had his hands up, when they made eye contact, Magnus nodded. Alec said, “My name is Alexander but I go by Alec.”

“Alec?” Magnus felt her pull away the gun. “Turn around,” her voice was suddenly gentle. 

They both turned, the woman was beautiful, dark hair and eyes. She looked like Alec. Magnus glanced at him, he looked shocked, “Izzy?”

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes. “Is it really you, big brother?”

Alec launched himself at her, pulling her into a big hug. “I can’t believe it’s you. Oh my god. I knew that you weren’t dead. I knew it!” Magnus couldn’t see her face because she was pressed up against his chest. 

Izzy pulled away, “Everyone is not going to believe this.”

“Everyone?” Alec’s eyebrows raised. “You mean you’re all alive…even Max?”

“We’re all okay, Alec.” She wiped her face, “We thought you died.”

He shook his head, “I escaped.”

“Have you been on your own ever since?”

“Mostly, after we got separated this woman, Julie took care of me. After she died I was on my own for years…until I met Magnus.”

Izzy turned to Magnus and pulled him into a hug, “Thank you for bringing my brother home.”

Magnus hugged her back, all of the stress he had gone under this whole journey was fading away. “You’re welcome, he means a lot to me.”

Izzy pulled back and gave Alec a knowing look, “Alec, why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”

Alec put his hands in the air, “We literally just got here!”

Izzy laughed and said to Magnus, “Welcome to the family!”

***

Izzy took them to one of the bigger buildings. She explained that one of their scouts spotted them coming out of the tunnel and everyone hid until it was deemed safe. 

Alec couldn’t stop smiling, he now had everything he ever wanted in his life, his family, Magnus and a safe place to live. 

“What’s with the skeletons?” Magnus asked.

“Ravagers found us. Well, not really. They knew we were hiding around here somewhere and they spotted a large group of us who were returning. They slaughtered them, leaving them to rot. They kept camping out around the area, waiting to see where we were hiding. We snuck up on them in the night and killed them. That was when our council decided that we should leave the bodies and our dead in that valley, to scare people away. We don’t do that anymore, though, we bury our dead now. How did you guys find out about this place?”

“Well, Alec told me about it a few days after we met.”

Alec explained the whole story, how he found out about the Oasis, how they met, their entire journey, everything. Magnus had seen Alec talk when he was happy before but he had never seen him be this animated before. “How did you get here?”

“We came here years ago, I was probably around eighteen. They came to us, they saw we had Max and knew we weren’t Ravagers since they don’t tolerate children.”

Izzy walked up to a woman and explained to her that they were good people and the lady nodded. Izzy then brought them back outside and started leading them to Alec’s family’s house. She explained that families lived with each other until they had too many people since housing was limited. 

When they entered the main room, Alec saw the back of his mother, she was facing the other direction. He took a deep breath and said, “Mom?”

She turned and gasped, “Alec?” She looked at Izzy, “This is who enter the Oasis?” Izzy nodded. Maryse ran to Alec and hugged him. When he felt her touch he started to cry, he missed her so much. It was strange to be hugging her again and what even seemed stranger to him was the fact that he was taller than her, when they got separated he still hadn’t had his growth spurt. 

His mom pulled away and looked at Magnus, who looked happy but also a little lost. “Who’s this?” she asked. 

Alec went over to Magnus and wrapped his arm around him, “Mom, this is my boyfriend, Magnus. I would have never made it here without him.” 

Maryse walked over to Magnus and hugged him too, “Thank you for saving my baby boy.”

“Believe me when I say I wouldn’t be around without him either.”

They had dinner, the meal was bigger than anything Alec had ever eaten before. He had to stop himself from overeating. Izzy told them that Jace and Max were out working and would be home soon. His mother also explained to them how jobs worked around here. They got to pick a job and stick with it, if the job was small they had to pick up more. Everyone had to pull their weight around here. Magnus and Alec had several days to settle before they had to decide. 

When Max and Jace arrived all Alec could here was, “Is it true?” he assumed that it was Jace talking. Alec stood up and went over to the door and waved awkwardly. 

Jace ran to him and gave him a hug, “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Alec said softly. He knew he had a lot of catching up to do with everyone, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

Max walked up to him, he looked so different compared to the tiny boy Alec last saw, he was tall and his hair had gotten darker. “Hey, Max.” Alec didn’t know how much he remembered, he was really young when they got attacked. 

Max hugged him, “I missed you, Alec.”

Alec wanted to cry again, if felt so good knowing that his little brother remembered him. “I miss you too.”

After they ate and chatted for a bit, Izzy showed them their room. They house was actually quite large, there were about six bedrooms in it plus several bathrooms and a kitchen. Alec made a mental note to ask where all these resources came from. “We assumed that you guys will be sharing, am I right?”

Alec felt himself blush and nod. 

“The room down there is the bathroom, you can clean each other up,” she winked. “There are towels in there too, call me if you need anything.” 

Alec and Magnus entered their room, it was a makeshift bed made out of furs. Alec wasn’t going to complain, it looked comfortable. He kissed Magnus, slowly. “We’re home,” he whispered against his lips.   
Magnus grabbed ahold of his hand and led him to the bathroom. There was a pipe coming out of the wall, and was hanging over a metal tub. Alec examined it, there was a plug at the bottom, that must be the drain. Alec turned a knob and water started to flow into the tub, he ran his fingers through it, it was warm. 

Alec turned and saw Magnus taking off his shirt. Alec started to undress too. Once the tub was filled, they entered together. The warm water felt amazing! Alec positioned himself between Magnus’ legs and leaned back against his chest. This was nice.

Magnus reached over and grabbed some soap and started to gently wash Alec’s skin, his touch soothing and gentle. Alec melted into him, feeling so relaxed. When Magnus started the wash his hair, Alec felt like he was in heaven. Once Magnus was done, they switched positions and Alec cleaned Magnus. It reminded him of when they were in that pool together. Alec smiled at the memory. 

After cleaning up, they sat there for a while, not wanting to get up. It wasn’t until the water grew cold they decided that it was time to get out. Magnus grabbed a towel and dried Alec, kissing him gently. “I love you,” he whispered. 

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you guys probably know, Shadowhunters was canceled last week, but hope isn't lost! We have millions of tweets about our cause, a GoFundMe, a petition with over 100,000 signatures and have had celebrities tweet about us! Please join our fight in saving our show. My Tumblr has a bunch of information about who to contact, links and the Twitter tag schedule! If we work together we can all save our show!


	25. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something short and sweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally done! Thank you guys so much for reading, whether it was from the start or you started it recently! I love you all! 
> 
> Here's the summary for my upcoming soulmate AU: In the weeks leading up to meeting your soulmate, you have ominious dreams about your mate. On his 23rd birthday, Alec starts having dreams about a faceless man on the beach. Now Alec has to put together the pieces to find out who his soulmate is

Magnus felt nervous as he sat on the couch. He was tapping his foot and rubbing his fingers together. He pressed his hand against his pants pocket for the hundredth time that day. He felt the shape of the ring against his hand. Good, it’s still there, he thought. Alec was going to get home from work soon. Alec was a part of the defense unit at the Oasis, like Izzy. He patrolled the area and answered people’s calls for help. 

Magnus worked as a doctor, he loved helping people and his knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants came in handy. He had worked very hard the past few months to earn enough points to buy a ring for Alec. It was a simple band made out of some soft metal. He knew that Alec was going to say yes but he was still nervous for some reason. 

Maryse got everyone out of the house so it wouldn’t become awkward for them. Magnus loved Maryse so much, she thought of him as family and would do anything to help his relationship with her son.   
Magnus heard the door open and he stood up, taking a deep breath. Here we go, he told himself. He went over to the doorway and greeted Alec like he always did. He kissed him gently on the lips.

“Anything interesting happen today?” he asked him. 

Alec shook his head, “Nope. I helped Maggie with transporting some supplies, that was probably the most exciting thing that happened today. You? You’re home early.”

“Something came up.”

“What? Did something bad happen?”

Magnus put his hand on his cheek, “No, Alexander, I just realized something, that’s all.”

Alec raised his eyebrow, encouraging him to continue. 

“Well I knew this part a long time ago, but you’re the love of my life. I was thinking about this when I realized that it was stupid that I haven’t proposed yet.”

Alec opened his mouth, realizing what was happening. 

Magnus went down on one knee and pulled out the ring, “Alexander, will you marry me?”

Alec grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him up, kissing him hard. “Of course!”

Magnus held onto him, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

Magnus pressed his forehead against his fiancé’s. He couldn’t believe it, he was engaged to someone. If someone were to tell him a year ago that this would happen he wouldn’t believe them. He didn’t think he was loveable. Things were different now. He had Alec and Alec had him. Magnus wanted to start a family with him, to grow old together. Now they were taking the first step towards that and Magnus couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to help out with the #saveshadowhunters campaign, we can do this!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Send me a prompt or whatever on my tumblr (malecstele)


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